AGE PARTICULARITIES OF WAR TRAUMA EXPERIENCES: INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of an integrative approach to determining the specifics of experiencing multiple traumas of the Russian-Ukrainian war. War encompasses all possible elements of trauma, its impact is long-lasting and, in our conditions, unpredictable in duration and intensity. The purpose of the article is an empirical study of the age-specific peculiarities of war trauma experiencing in the context of psychological knowledge about personality in crisis situations integration. Research methods: Hospital scale of anxiety and depression (HADS, Zigmond, Snaith, 1983), PCL-5 (Weathers, Litz, Keane, 2013), questionnaire of grief reactions (HGRC, Hogan, 2001), Inventory of Social Support (Hogan, Schmidt, 2016). In this study, we compared the war traumas of persons aged 13 to 70 who were in the zone of active hostilities, left it through internal migration, and were in their cities and towns under temporary occupation (Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv region), in total 328 people participated in the study. Results of the study: regardless of age, such war traumas as separation from family members, numerous deaths of family members and friends, destroyed houses, and the death of pets are characteristic of the subjects, regardless of age; most of all, war trauma affected the system of values and beliefs of teenagers and young people who, for almost the first time in their lives, encountered an uncontrolled world, in them we can state the presence of moral trauma, in the absence of PTSD symptoms. There are statistically significant negative correlations of social support with PCL-5 scores, particularly avoidance and intrusions, and with HADS depressive symptoms. Conclusions: all study participants have traumatic events that cause irritability, increased excitability, problems with sleep and eating behavior, but do not lead to post-traumatic disorders; the vast majority of subjects under the age of 50 are mobilized for further struggle for victory, PTSD symptoms are not significantly expressed in them, as well as guilt, anger, despair accompanying traumatic losses, on the other hand, those over 50 have difficulty adapting to a new place of residence, more attached to their homes and households, separation from which is accompanied by despair and panic reactions.