A Meta-Analysis of Ukrainian and other European Women’s Psychological Well-Being Following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 (Published)
The meta-analysis described in this paper examined the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 on Ukrainian and other European women’s psychological well-being because the largest number of Ukrainians who were internally or externally displaced from their homes and communities as a result of the Russian invasion are women. The World Health Organization-Five Item Well-Being Index was the psychological health measure in all the studies in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis included 7 samples of Ukrainian and other European women (N = 111,438), 36 samples of non-European women residing in world regions not directly affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine (N = 7,852), and six samples of non-European refugees and asylum seekers residing in different European countries (N = 1,857). The main focus of analysis was the psychological well-being of internally and externally displaced Ukrainian women compared to (a) nondisplaced Ukrainian women, (b) non-European refugee women displaced in different European countries, (c) European women in different regions of Europe, and (d) women residing in other world regions (Latin America and Caribbean, Oceania and South Pacific, and North America). Results showed that the Ukrainian women displaced from their homes and communities had the lowest WHO-5 well-being scores compared to all other European women, including nondisplaced Ukrainian women, and women in other world regions. Results also showed that the WHO-5 well-being scores of non-European refugee women displaced in different European countries were more attenuated compared to all other samples except the displaced Ukrainian women. Secondary analyses yielded inconclusive evidence that European women’s psychological well-being was negatively affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Keywords: Internally Displaced Persons, Psychological well-being, Russian invasion, Ukrainian refugees, Women, meta-analysis, war