Coping and Resilience Strategies among Ukraine War Refugees

(1) Background: The war in Ukraine has triggered a huge humanitarian crisis: millions of refugees have escaped from their homes looking for shelter beyond Ukraine's borders. This emergency offers a unique opportunity to investigate and to document those characteristics of the human condition th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-10, Vol.19 (20), p.13094
Main Authors: Oviedo, Lluis, Seryczyńska, Berenika, Torralba, Josefa, Roszak, Piotr, Del Angel, Javier, Vyshynska, Olena, Muzychuk, Iryna, Churpita, Slava
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Coping
Dictionaries
Displaced persons
Humans
Mental disorders
Mental health
Post traumatic stress disorder
Refugees
Refugees - psychology
Religion
Resilience
Resilience, Psychological
Security
Social organization
Systematic review
Ukraine
War
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Summary:(1) Background: The war in Ukraine has triggered a huge humanitarian crisis: millions of refugees have escaped from their homes looking for shelter beyond Ukraine's borders. This emergency offers a unique opportunity to investigate and to document those characteristics of the human condition that emerge in exceptional circumstances provoked by war. Based on considerations derived from recent studies on resilience, the research at the base of this paper was conducted to better understand the circumstances, states of mind, and coping mechanisms of the refugees leaving their homes looking for security. (2) Methods: A qualitative approach was applied, resorting to semi-structured interviews (n = 94) to closely explore the traumatic experiences lived by refugees and to identify their coping strategies. (3) Results: The data obtained pointed to a plurality of coping and resilience strategies. Maintaining communication with separated loved ones as well as experiencing accompaniment by helpers and hosts emerged as principal elements for coping and resilience. It was found that a prior development of interior life or practice of prayer served as psychological "capital" that increased their resilience. (4) Conclusion: The results point to the need to care for social networking, attention by hosts, and cultivating interior life as keys for resilience.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph192013094