Resilient coping during the Russian-Ukrainian war: Does it buffer the effects of cumulative trauma on ICD-11 posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms?

Abstract

Background

Individuals with higher resilient coping may manage war-related trauma better than individuals with lower resilient coping. If so, resilient coping may weaken the relationship between war trauma and posttraumatic stress disorders.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the role of resilient coping in moderating the associations between cumulative war trauma exposure and ICD-11 posttraumatic stress disorders during war.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included N = 851 Ukrainian students living in the Ukraine between December 2022 and January 2023 during the Russian-Ukrainian war. We tested a model in which resilient coping was specified as a moderator of the effect of war-related cumulative trauma exposure (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire-R) on ICD-11 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) symptom levels (International Trauma Questionnaire-R), respectively. We used Structural Equation Modeling and controlled our analysis for previous trauma exposure, gender, years of study, and level of income.

Results

In contrast to our hypothesis, the level of resilient coping did not moderate the effect of cumulative war trauma exposure on PTSD and DSO symptom levels. Instead, we found a strong direct effect of the level of resilient coping on PTSD and DSO symptom levels.

Conclusions

Resilient coping may directly affect the level of PTSD and DSO symptoms but may not weaken the association between trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorders during war.