Associations between coping strategies and psychological distress among people living in Ukraine, Poland, and Taiwan during the initial stage of the 2022 War in Ukraine

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographics, coping orientation, and psychological distress of the Polish, Ukrainian, and Taiwanese respondents.

	Total	Ukrainian	Polish	Taiwanese	Statistics	Post-hoc
Variable	N = 1598	N = 362	N = 1051	N = 185
Sex	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Male	401 (25.1%)	65 (18%)	253 (24.1%)	83 (44.9%)	–	–
Female	1197 (74.9%)	297 (82%)	798 (75.9%)	102 (55.1%)
Age group
12–21	403 (25.2%)	82 (22.7%)	292 (27.8%)	29 (15.7%)	–	–
22–30	573 (35.9%)	78 (21.5%)	452 (43%)	43 (23.2%)
31–40	302 (18.9%)	76 (21.0%)	156 (14.8%)	70 (37.8%)
41–49	173 (10.8%)	61 (16.9%)	112 (10.7%)	0 (0%)
>50	147 (9.2%)	65 (18%)	39 (3.7%)	43 (23.2%)
Education level
Junior school or below	618 (38.7%)	74 (20.4%)	540 (51.4%)	4 (2.2%)	–	–
Bachelor	442 (27.7%)	133 (36.7%)	206 (19.6%)	103 (55.7%)
Graduate school	538 (33.7%)	155 (42.8%)	305 (29%)	78 (42.2%)
Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory
Problem-focused	1.7 (0.8)	1.8 (0.6)	1.5 (0.6)	2.8 (0.8)	326.44	T > U > P
Emotion-focused	1.5 (0.6)	1.4 (0.4)	1.3 (0.5)	2.4 (0.6)	391.46	T > P > U
Avoidance	1.0 (0.6)	0.9 (0.5)	0.9 (0.5)	1.6 (0.5)	155.92	T > P = U
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Depression	1.0 (0.7)	1.3 (0.6)	1.0 (0.7)	0.5 (0.5)	83.94	U > P > T
Anxiety	1.2 (0.7)	1.5 (0.7)	1.2 (0.7)	0.7 (0.7)	84.02	U > P > T
Stress	0.9 (0.7)	1.2 (0.7)	0.9 (0.7)	0.5 (0.6)	71.55	U > P > T
Impact of Event Scale – Revised
Intrusion	1.7 (0.9)	2.1 (0.9)	1.6 (0.9)	1.9 (0.9)	42.83	U > T > P
Avoidance	1.7 (0.8)	1.6 (0.7)	1.6 (0.8)	1.9 (0.8)	9.49	T > P = U
Hyperarousal	1.6 (0.9)	2.0 (0.9)	1.5 (0.9)	1.7 (0.8)	50.47	U > T > P
Hopelessness about the war	3.2 (0.9)	3.2 (0.9)	3.4 (0.8)	2.1 (0.8)	180.04	P > U > T

Note: SD: standard deviation. In the post hoc comparison, P = Polish respondents, U = Ukrainian respondents, and T = Taiwanese respondents. The post hoc comparison was performed using the Scheffe test.

Table 2. Associations between various coping strategies and mental health during the 2022 War in Ukraine, stratified by country.

	Taiwanese			Polish			Ukrainian
	Problem-focused	Emotion-focused	Avoidance	Problem-focused	Emotion-focused	Avoidance	Problem-focused	Emotion-focused	Avoidance
Variable	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)	B (se)
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales
Depression	0.498 (0.360)	2.311 (0.447)***	4.647 (0.499)***	1.360 (0.223)***	3.061 (0.301)***	5.098 (0.227)***	−0.306 (0.362)	1.880 (0.476)***	2.851 (0.416)***
Anxiety	0.929 (0.571)	3.441 (0.717)***	6.806 (0.822)***	1.624 (0.304)***	4.038 (0.410)***	7.072 (0.304)***	−0.156 (0.535)	2.918 (0.702)***	4.326 (0.612)***
Stress	0.156 (0.284)	1.258 (0.364)***	3.605 (0.394)***	0.619 (0.177)***	2.303 (0.237)***	4.034 (0.176)***	−0.272 (0.291)	1.306 (0.385)***	2.204 (0.336)***
Impact of Event Scale – Revised
Intrusion	0.574 (0.652)	3.653 (0.822)***	8.012 (0.921)***	3.487 (0.307)***	4.271 (0.433)***	6.102 (0.348)***	0.598 (0.622)	3.958 (0.811)***	3.808 (0.734)***
Avoidance	0.343 (0.621)	2.966 (0.794)***	8.634 (0.821)***	1.346 (0.285)***	2.711 (0.393)***	4.904 (0.316)***	2.039 (0.504)***	3.554 (0.667)***	5.949 (0.544)***
Hyperarousal	−0.107 (0.466)	2.284 (0.593)***	5.969 (0.643)***	2.162 (0.241)***	3.066 (0.335)***	5.082 (0.261)***	0.146 (0.454)	2.741 (0.592)***	3.064 (0.530)***
Hopelessness	0.109 (0.072)	0.242 (0.094)*	0.317 (0.119)**	0.148 (0.039)***	0.168 (0.055)**	0.429 (0.046)***	−0.230 (0.079)*	0.037 (0.108)	0.344 (0.096)***

Note: The analysis was adjusted for sex, educational level, and age group. B: regression coefficient; SE: standard error. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Table 3. Different effects of various coping strategies on mental health during the 2022 War in Ukraine with seemingly unrelated regression, stratified by country.

	Taiwanese						Polish						Ukrainian
	Problem-focused		Emotion-focused		Problem-focused		Problem-focused		Emotion-focused		Problem-focused		Problem-focused		Emotion-focused		Problem-focused
	vs.		vs.		vs.		vs.		vs.		vs.		vs.		vs.		vs.
	avoidance		avoidance		emotion-focused		avoidance		avoidance		emotion-focused		avoidance		avoidance		emotion-focused
Variable	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2	Difference	χ^2
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales
Depression	−1.17	16.88***	−1.00	11.68***	−0.17	1.84	−1.34	105.95***	−1.21	80.97***	−0.13	3.30	−0.24	2.34	−0.19	1.49	−0.05	0.15
Anxiety	−1.44	11.54***	−1.23	8.05**	−0.21	1.42	−1.97	123.25***	−1.80	96.22***	−0.17	3.53	−0.39	2.77	−0.31	1.66	−0.08	0.23
Stress	−0.96	20.09***	−0.90	18.12***	−0.06	0.59	−1.09	113.33***	−0.98	85.71***	−0.11	4.05*	−0.18	2.28	−0.15	1.68	−0.03	0.09
Impact of Event Scale – Revised
Intrusion	−1.84	13.92***	−1.63	10.67**	−0.21	0.99	−0.88	24.69***	−0.93	27.60***	0.05	0.20	−1.23	0.58	−1.16	<0.01	−0.07	0.72
Avoidance	−2.77	31.72***	−2.60	28.55***	−0.17	0.84	−0.73	30.55***	−0.68	25.83***	−0.05	0.66	−0.16	18.2***	−0.07	16.2***	−0.09	0.20
Hyperarousal	−1.57	18.66***	−1.44	16.24***	−0.13	0.58	−1.03	56.40***	−1.00	51.64***	−0.03	0.18	−1.82	0.95	−1.26	0.16	−0.56	0.46
Hopelessness	−0.01	0.10	<0.01	0.03	−0.01	0.11	−0.03	5.04*	−0.03	4.91*	<0.01	0.01	−0.39	0.93	−0.31	0.58	−0.08	0.19

Note: The analysis was adjusted for sex, educational level, and age group. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.