FEATURES OF COPING STRATEGIES IN CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY OF WARTIME

Abstract

Relevance. The purpose of this article is to empirically investigate the discrepancies in the selection of coping strategies among groups of people during war under various conditions of uncertainty.
Methodology. The sample consists of 186 residents of Ukrainian cities who live under various conditions of uncertainty.
Methods: author’s questionnaire, methods: «Test for psychological diagnostics of coping mechanisms (E. Heim)», «The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12) (N. Carleton, adaptation by H. Gromova)»; mathematical methods for processing empirical data using the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 package.
Results. Respondent groups, based on their location relative to the front line, show statistically significant discrepancies in cognitive and behavioral coping strategies. The empirical study’s analysis showed that individuals living in the front and near-front zones often compare their problems with others and downplay their difficulties more frequently (41,94%) than those living further from the front line (21.94%). Furthermore, individuals closer to the front line show a higher tendency to employ the adaptive coping strategy «altruism» (19.35%), that is, they offer help to others in overcoming difficulties more often than those living further from the front line (6.45%). Both groups predominantly employ relatively adaptive coping strategies. However, a divergence in problem-solving approaches exists: individuals in the front and near-front zones typically avoid problem-solving by engaging in a favorite activity, whereas the other group tends to evade problem-solving by resorting to alcohol, medicines, sedatives, or indulging in tasty food. The study did not identify statistically significant differences between groups regarding intolerance to uncertainty.