Tolerance for Uncertainty and Readiness for Change Among Psychology Students in Wartime

The full-scale war in Ukraine has inflicted pervasive trauma and disrupted ontological security, exposing university students to chronic unpredictability and existential loss. Grounded in the transactional stress model and transdiagnostic vulnerability theory, this empirical study investigates uncertainty tolerance and readiness for change among future mental health practitioners navigating wartime loss of continuity. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 546 undergraduate psychology students across three Ukrainian universities utilizing the adapted Tolerance for Uncertainty scale (α=0.82) and the Attitude Toward Change questionnaire (α=0.79). While the pragmatic "Realist" typology emerged as the dominant coping strategy (53.85%), a vulnerable subgroup (26.0%) exhibited low overall uncertainty tolerance, reflecting acute sensitivity to existential ambiguity. Independent samples t-tests revealed that fourth-year students demonstrated significantly higher tolerance for uncertainty compared to first-year cohorts (t(270)=-7.14, p<.001, d=0.86), highlighting the protective, resilience-building role of progressive clinical training against trauma-induced rigidity. Furthermore, linear regression confirmed that uncertainty tolerance significantly predicts readiness for change (R2=.184, β=.429, p<.001), establishing cognitive flexibility as an active driver of functional adaptation. Integrating these findings with global literature on collective crisis, the study underscores the imperative of cultivating ambiguity tolerance to mitigate transdiagnostic distress and foster post-traumatic growth. These insights provide actionable frameworks for trauma-informed higher education curricula and clinical workforce preparation in post-conflict reconstruction.