Role of the Virtual Space in Psychological Support of Adult Ukrainian Civilians During Wartime

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The purpose of the study is to find out the possibilities of digital technologies for providing psychological support to the civilian population during a large-scale war. The Taylor Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and self-assessment of the level of ontogenetic reflection were used. A formative experiment and observation were conducted. During the experiment, the impact of a complex of online training on the psyche of virtual space users was implemented. A dependency of anxiety and depression indicators on military events and their perception in society was revealed. The results of calculating the Student's t-test based on the experimental sample data indicate that the anxiety indicators changed six months after the implementation of the remote training program (t=2.456; p=0.05). No significant difference was found between the results of the second and third anxiety diagnostics. A similar trend in the experimental group is recorded for the depression parameter. Reflection does not significantly change according to the indicators of repeated diagnosis (t=1.771). At the same time, other coefficients indicate a significant change in the structure of reflection after completion of distance learning courses (t=4.221; t=3.929; p=0.01). It was found that conducting distance training within a virtual space allowed to stabilize emotional characteristics and eliminate further destructive trends. The most effective organization of virtual psychological influx was found in the direct development of reflection. The obtained results can be used in the improvement of treatment programs for depression and anxiety, taking into account the possibilities of virtual space. Further prospects can be seen in the development of the effectiveness of psychological support programs on the Internet for military personnel and war veterans.