THE COPING STRATEGIES OF ADOLESCENTS DURING A WAR CRISIS

Abstract

A crisis can be described as a critical psychological state wherein individuals are confronted with circumstances that threaten their emotional well-being. They find themselves unable to resolve the situation with familiar methods, nor can they entirely avoid it [5]. Ukrainian people tend to use different coping strategies to help deal with the psychological symptoms during the time of war. These strategies can be divided into problem– and emotionoriented coping mechanisms [7; 14; 13]. Problem-oriented coping strategies (e.g. actively dealing with issues, planning and positively reframing them with the help of different structural support) show how people can solve their current problems. During a crisis and under stressful situations – perhaps as an attempt to regain a sense of security – the need for attachment increases [19]and this feeling is activated in the behavioral system. Although a crisis can ruin human relationships, the presence and availability of significant people – such as parents and teachers – can ease the negative impacts of stress by maintaining their connections and satisfying attachment needs [21]. The actual impact of the war crisis on those experiencing it is being examined by many foreign and national studies, however, they do not give a detailed description of the narratives and coping strategies of youth. This study aims to answer these questions. The research questions were investigated among adolescents (17-year-olds) living in Transcarpathia, Ukraine. In addition to the demographic data, the participants answered four main questions. Answering these questions was not mandatory, thus, in the end, 84 people responded (26 of which were adolescent boys, while the remaining 58 were adolescent girls).The aim of our descriptive research was to gain insight into the warrelated experiences and coping mechanisms of Hungarian youth living in Transcarpathia.