War-related stressors and ICD-11 (complex) post-traumatic stress disorders in Ukrainian students living in Kyiv during the Russian-Ukrainian war

TY - JOUR

T1 - War-related stressors and ICD-11 (complex) post-traumatic stress disorders in Ukrainian students living in Kyiv during the Russian-Ukrainian war

AU - Lotzin, Annett

AU - Morozova-Larina, Olha

AU - Paschenko, Svitlana

AU - Paetow, Antje

AU - Schratz, Lisa

AU - Keller, Vladyslava

AU - Krupelnytska, Liudmyla

N1 - Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - We estimated the prevalence of war-related stressors (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire-R), risk of ICD-11 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD; International Trauma Questionnaire-R) in N = 563 Ukrainian students living in Kyiv, an active war zone between December 2022 and January 2023. Among trauma survivors (n = 381), we used multinomial logistic regression to examine whether different war-related traumatic events and cumulative trauma increased risk for ICD-11-PTSD and CPTSD after controlling for other traumatic events, age, and gender. Nine of ten Ukrainian students (91.5%) reported at least one war-related stressor, one of five (20.8%) reported four or more stressors. War-related combat situations were reported most frequently (59.5%), followed by forced separation from family members (54.5%), lack of shelter (53.3%), and murder or violent death of a family member or friend (15.6%). Rates for probable ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD were 12.4% and 11.2%, respectively. Sexual violence and cumulative trauma exposure significantly increased the risk of CPTSD compared to other traumatic events. The high proportions of ICD-11-PTSD and CPTSD underscore the psychological burden of Ukrainian students living in an active war zone and the need for trauma-focused interventions for war-affected populations.

AB - We estimated the prevalence of war-related stressors (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire-R), risk of ICD-11 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD; International Trauma Questionnaire-R) in N = 563 Ukrainian students living in Kyiv, an active war zone between December 2022 and January 2023. Among trauma survivors (n = 381), we used multinomial logistic regression to examine whether different war-related traumatic events and cumulative trauma increased risk for ICD-11-PTSD and CPTSD after controlling for other traumatic events, age, and gender. Nine of ten Ukrainian students (91.5%) reported at least one war-related stressor, one of five (20.8%) reported four or more stressors. War-related combat situations were reported most frequently (59.5%), followed by forced separation from family members (54.5%), lack of shelter (53.3%), and murder or violent death of a family member or friend (15.6%). Rates for probable ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD were 12.4% and 11.2%, respectively. Sexual violence and cumulative trauma exposure significantly increased the risk of CPTSD compared to other traumatic events. The high proportions of ICD-11-PTSD and CPTSD underscore the psychological burden of Ukrainian students living in an active war zone and the need for trauma-focused interventions for war-affected populations.

KW - Humans

KW - Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology

KW - International Classification of Diseases

KW - Surveys and Questionnaires

KW - Sex Offenses

KW - Logistic Models

U2 - 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115561

DO - 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115561

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 37956590

VL - 330

JO - PSYCHIAT RES

JF - PSYCHIAT RES

SN - 0165-1781

M1 - 115561

ER -