Experiences of the Ukrainian adolescents during the Russia-Ukraine 2022 War

Purpose The study aims to explore the current experiences of Ukrainian adolescents affected by the Russia-Ukraine war. The study focused on the changes in adolescents’ lives caused by the war, adolescents’ emotional reactions to the disruptions caused by the war, coping strategies employed by adolescents in dealing with disruptions and the role of information technology in supporting new realities and coping strategies of adolescents. Design/methodology/approach This study relied on semi-structured interviews conducted on Zoom with 27 Ukrainian adolescents ages 10-18. Participants were recruited using the snowball sample and came from various regions of Ukraine. The interview notes and partial transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify the common and unique patterns in participant responses. Findings The interview data revealed the signs of traumatic experiences and various stages and methods of coping with them. Participants’ resilience was supported by external factors, including families, communities, continuous schooling, ability to talk to friends, information technology, as well as internal skills, including social competence, problem-solving, critical consciousness, autonomy and a sense of purpose. Participants shared specific recommendations for improving information platforms and online content, e.g. making them more accessible and affordable for Ukrainian users, improving content curation and personalization, creating and promoting Ukrainian content and others. Research limitations/implications Research relied on convenience sample of participants who had access to information communication technology (ICT), were aware and had an ability to participate. Field work is needed to reach out to participants without access to ICT. Practical implications This study contains broad recommendations for improving information technologies for the use of Ukrainian adolescents. Social implications This research offers three timely account of the first-hand experiences of Ukrainian adolescents affected by the Russia-Ukraine war and can inform future work aimed at improving life conditions for teen population. Originality/value This study relied on first-hand reports of Ukrainian adolescents’ experiences, feelings and coping strategies during the first three months of Russia-Ukraine war. The study applied war trauma and resilience frameworks to interpret the findings and translate some of the findings into practical recommendations for the information science community.