Mental health of university students in Ukraine in the context of global crises and cognitive warfare
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2026.130Keywords:
Ukraine, war, mental health, university students, cognitive warfareAbstract
Ukrainian university students facing profound mental health challenges during the ongoing war, a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by cognitive warfare - efforts to destabilise consciousness, erode trust and manipulate emotions. Drawing on a systematic review of 65 studies and a longitudinal survey of 980 students (aged 18-24) at the University of Customs and Finance in Dnipro (2022-2025), alarming findings revealing that 60% of students report clinically relevant distress (anxiety, depression, chronic stress); 32.6% adapt to “new war norms” risking trauma normalisation; 94% endure upheavals like power outages, explosions and loss of loved ones’; 40% fear constantly for family safety and 22.4% show academic apathy amid online learning disruptions. Alas, despite suffering, 89% of the students view challenges as growth opportunities, while highlighting resilience as a resource for Ukraine’s future. Our findings recommend urgent university-integrated interventions like sleep hygiene, anxiety management, stress regulation, time structuring, resilience training and cognitive enhancement to counter somatisation of mental health effects of war.
References
Bilavych, H. V./Vintoniak, O. V./Snitovska, O. Y./Sultanova, N. V./Hnatyshyn, S. I./Slyvka, L. V./Savchuk, B. P. (2025). Health-preserving: Innovative technologies in the professional educational training of Ukrainian students during wartime. Wiadomości Lekarskie 78 (8), 1614–1623. https://doi.org/10.36740/WLek/209515.
Borella, A./Breslin, T./Carcas, E./Essman, M./Gillet, C./Hart, K./Tison, M. (2025). Student Mental Health in Europe: Learning the lessons. Nightline Europe. Available online at https://www.nightline.fr/sites/default/files/publications/2025-05/Student%20Mental%20Health%20in%20Europe_Nightline%20Europe_2025_PAP%281%29.pdf (accessed 2/23/2026).
Cuijpers, P./Li, J./Hofmann, S. G./Andersson, G. (2010). Self-reported versus clinician-rated symptoms of depression as outcome measures in psychotherapy research on depression: a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review 30 (6), 768–778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.06.001.
Dodd, A. L./Priestley, M./Tyrrell, K./Cygan, S./Newell, C./Byrom, N. C. (2021). University student well-being in the United Kingdom: a scoping review of its conceptualisation and measurement. Journal of Mental Health 30 (3), 375–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2021.1875419.
Maes, M./Qualter, P./Lodder, G. M. A./Mund, M. (2022). How (Not) to Measure Loneliness: A Review of the Eight Most Commonly Used Scales. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (17), 10816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710816.
Osokina, O./Silwal, S./Westerlund, M./Heinonen, E./Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, S./Putyatin, G./Yaschchyshyna, Y./Skokauskas, N./Hodes, M./Sourander, A. (2025). Mental health consequences for adolescents during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: protocol for the Ukraine Adolescent Mental Health Study. Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 4, 1637011. https://doi.org/10.3389/frcha.2025.1637011.
Sydorenko, A. Y./Kiel, L./Spindler, H. (2025). Resilience, psychosomatic health, and support needs of Ukrainian healthcare professionals in wartime: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 188, 111995. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2024.111995.
Wall, A./Lee, E. (2021). What do Anxiety Scales Really Measure? An Item Content Analysis of Self-Report Measures of Anxiety. An Item Content Analysis of Self-Report Measures of Anxiety. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment (44), 1148–1157. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/t7gpx.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Lidiya Derkach
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
