Post-traumatic stress disorder is considered one of the mental health consequences of war. Predicting the level of risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder among the population is an essential task in terms of strategic planning, including the costs of building a mental health system. A review of meta-analyses of postwar societies and estimates of the level of post-traumatic stress disorder among Ukrainians in the first year of the war suggests that the expected prevalence of this disorder is much higher than the officially determined 10-20%. The study analysed the results of a mass representative survey of the adult population of Ukraine conducted from 6 to 10 October 2023 (the number of respondents was 2,767) using the index of post-traumatic stress disorder (criterion B – intrusion) based on a questionnaire for assessing the symptoms of stress disorders among civilians. It was found that 75% of the civilian population does not have clinically significant levels of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in the 20th month of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. The expected risk of developing this disorder at 25% reflects optimistic dynamics compared to 2022 but requires intensive development of the mental health system and commensurate investments. The demographic preconditions for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder include female gender, younger age, residence in the frontline and de-occupied territories, and low financial welfare. According to the regression analysis, two groups were identified among the most common stressors of the war: a group of subjective stressors, traumatic memories, and a group of social stressors, discrimination, lack of support, and moral dilemmas. One of the most common stressors of the war, which is relevant for almost 81% of Ukrainians, is the experience of seeing and hearing things in the media, which confirms the need for further investigation of the impact of war images on mental health
Naydonova et al. (Sun,) studied this question.