Association Between the Time Spent on and Sources of the News of Russo-Ukrainian War and Psychological Distress Among Individuals in Poland and Ukraine: The Mediating Effect of Rumination

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics Among Participants in Poland and Ukraine

	Total (n = 1438)	Nationality		P
		Poland (n = 1053)	Ukraine (n = 385)
Gender, n (%)				0.029 ^a
Male	323 (22.5)	252 (23.9)	71 (18.4)
Female	1114 (73.7)	801 (76.1)	313 (81.6)
Age, n (%)
12~21 years	378 (26.3)	295 (28)	83 (21.6)	0.014 ^a
22~30 years	532 (37.0)	451 (42.8)	81 (21)	<0.001^a
31~40 years	235 (16.3)	157 (14.9)	78 (20.3)	0.015 ^a
41~49 years	177 (12.3)	111 (10.5)	66 (17.1)	0.001^a
50~59 years	65 (4.5)	32 (3)	33 (8.6)	<0.001^a
Above 60 years	51 (3.5)	7 (0.7)	44 (11.4)	<0.001^a
Education, n (%)
None	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	–
Primary school	14 (1)	13 (1.2)	1 (0.3)	0.096 ^a
Secondary school (grades 7~9)	17 (1.2)	14 (1.3)	3 (0.8)	0.393 ^a
Secondary school (grades 10~12)	588 (40.9)	516 (49)	72 (18.7)	<0.001^a
College	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	–
University (bachelor)	346 (24.1)	206 (19.6)	140 (36.4)	<0.001^a
University (master or PhD)	473 (32.9)	304 (28.9)	169 (43.9)	<0.001^a
Employment, n (%)				0.037 ^a
Jobless	708 (49.2)	536 (50.9)	172 (44.7)
On job	730 (50.8)	517 (49.1)	213 (55.3)
Marital status, n (%)
Single	433 (30.1)	334 (31.7)	99 (25.7)	0.028 ^a
Married	384 (26.7)	213 (20.2)	171 (44.4)	<0.001^a
Relationship with a significant other	539 (37.5)	461 (43.8)	78 (20.3)	<0.001^a
Divorced/separated	71 (4.9)	41 (3.9)	30 (7.8)	0.003 ^a
Widowed	11 (0.8)	4 (0.4)	0 (0)	0.006 ^a
Traumatic history, n (%)				0.228 ^a
No	1065 (74.1)	771 (73.2)	294 (76.4)
Yes	373 (25.9)	282 (26.8)	91 (23.6)
History of psychiatry illness, n (%)				0.003^a
No	816 (56.7)	535 (50.8)	281 (73)
Yes	622 (43.3)	518 (49.2)	104 (27)
Source of news about war
Internet, n (%)				<0.001^a
No	313 (21.8)	196 (18.6)	177 (30.4)
Yes	1125 (78.2)	857 (81.4)	268 (69.6)
Television, n (%)				0.024^a
No	972 (67.6)	694 (65.9)	278 (72.2)
Yes	466 (32.4)	359 (34.1)	107 (27.8)
Radio, n (%)				<0.001^a
No	1235 (85.9)	876 (83.2)	359 (93.2)
Yes	203 (14.1)	177 (16.8)	26 (6.8)
Newspapers, n (%)				<0.001^a
No	1362 (94.7)	983 (93.4)	379 (98.4)
Yes	76 (5.3)	70 (6.6)	6 (1.6)
Time spent on the war-related news, mean (SD)	2.76 (1.17)	2.49 (0.98)	3.49 (1.32)	<0.001^b
Total DASS scores, mean (SD)	23.98 (13.7)	22.36 (13.74)	28.42 (12.57)	<0.001^b
Total IES-R scores, mean (SD)	36.71 (15.35)	35.01 (15.15)	41.36 (14.94)	<0.001^b
Rumination scores, mean (SD)	13.01 (2.36)	12.87 (2.40)	13.41 (2.23)	<0.001^b

Notes: ^aPearson’s χ² test; ^bIndependent t test; Bolds: statistical significance.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; DASS, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale; IES-R, Impact of Event Scale-Revised.

Figure 1 The conceptual model of mediating effect.

Table 2 The Correlation Matrix of Observation Variables Among Participants in Poland and Ukraine

Variables (Poland)	1	2	3	4
1. Time spent on the war-related news	-	0.261**	0.218**	0.209**
2. Rumination scores		-	0.416**	0.627**
3. Total DASS scores			-	0.679**
4. Total IES-R scores				-
Variables (Ukraine)	1	2	3	4
1. Time spent on the war-related news	-	0.301**	0.293**	0.331**
2. Rumination scores		-	0.474**	0.518**
3. Total DASS scores			-	0.781**
4. Total IES-R scores				-

Note: **P<0.001.

Abbreviations: DASS, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale; IES-R, Impact of Event Scale-Revised.

Table 3 The Mediated Effect of Rumination on the Association Between Time Spent on the War-Related News and Psychological Distress Among Participants in Poland

Outcome variable: Rumination
Predictors	β	SE	p	LLCI	ULCI
Time spent on the war-related news	0.261	0.029	<0.001	0.214	0.308
Outcome variable: Psychological distress
Predictors	β	SE	p	LLCI	ULCI
Rumination	0.612	0.022	<0.001	0.576	0.648
Time spent on the war-related news	0.047	0.03	0.113	−0.002	0.098
Mediation of rumination
Predictors ^a	β	SE	p	LLCI	ULCI
Time spent on the war-related news	0.160	0.019	<0.001	0.130	0.191

Note: ^aMediated by rumination to predict psychological distress.

Abbreviations: LLCI, lower limit of bootstrapping 95% confidence interval; ULCI, upper limit of bootstrapping 95% confidence interval; β, standardized regression coefficient; SE, standard error.

Figure 2 Final model of mediating effect.

Table 4 The Mediated Effect of Rumination on the Association Between Time Spent on the War-Related News and Psychological Distress Among Participants in Ukraine

Outcome variable: Rumination
Predictors	β	SE	p	LLCI	ULCI
Time spent on the war-related news	0.301	0.046	0.001	0.218	0.368
Outcome variable: Psychological distress
Predictors	β	SE	p	LLCI	ULCI
Rumination	0.498	0.047	<0.001	0.417	0.571
Time spent on the war-related news	0.205	0.052	<0.001	0.117	0.289
Mediation of rumination
Predictors ^a	β	SE	p	LLCI	ULCI
Time spent on the war-related news	0.150	0.027	<0.001	0.108	0.195

Note: ^aMediated by rumination to predict psychological distress.

Abbreviations: LLCI, lower limit of bootstrapping 95% confidence interval; ULCI, upper limit of bootstrapping 95% confidence interval; β, standardized regression coefficient; SE, standard error.

Table 5 Associations of Source of the War-Related News with Rumination and Psychological Distress: Multivariate Linear Regression with Multiple Adjustment ^a

Participants in Poland	β	t	95% CI	p
DASS
Internet	0.989	0.915	−1.13, 3.11	0.361
Television	0.311	0.349	−1.44, 2.06	0.727
Radio	−1.499	−1.329	−3.71, 0.71	0.184
Newspaper	1.239	0.734	−2.08, 4.55	0.463
IES-R
Internet	0.811	0.705	−1.44, 3.07	0.481
Television	2.475	2.618	0.62, 4.33	0.009
Radio	0.776	0.647	−1.58, 3.13	0.518
Newspaper	2.571	1.434	−0.95, 6.09	0.152
Rumination
Internet	0.616	3.480	0.27, 0.96	0.001
Television	0.607	4.165	0.32, 0.89	<0.001
Radio	0.189	1.020	−0.18, 0.55	0.308
Newspaper	0.248	0.891	−0.3, 0.79	0.373
Participants in Ukraine	β	t	95% CI	p
DASS
Internet	1.223	0.907	−1.43, 3.87	0.365
Television	−1.203	−0.866	−3.93, 1.53	0.387
Radio	0.593	0.238	−4.30, 5.49	0.812
Newspaper	−3.634	−0.725	−13.49, 6.22	0.469
IES-R
Internet	2.772	1.732	−0.38, 5.92	0.074
Television	−0.600	−0.363	−3.85, 2.65	0.717
Radio	−1.275	−0.430	−7.1, 4.55	0.667
Newspaper	−0.855	−0.143	−12.59, 10.89	0.886
Rumination
Internet	0.217	0.916	−0.25, 0.68	0.360
Television	−0.263	−1.081	−0.74, 0.22	0.281
Radio	−0.363	−0.832	−1.22, 0.50	0.406
Newspaper	−0.474	−0.539	−2.21, 1.26	0.590

Notes: ^aAdjusted to gender, age, educational level, marital status, employment status, history of psychiatry illness, and history of traumatic events; Bolds: statistical significance.

Abbreviation: CI, Confidence interval.