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Posttraumatic growth and depreciation among Ukrainians: a structural equation modelling approach
Mariia Mezhenska1, Craig S Neumann1, Ateka A Contractor1
1Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA.
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
|June 23, 2026
Summary
War-related stressors and core belief disruption significantly impact PTSD, moral injury, and moral sensitivity in Ukrainian adults. Moral sensitivity promotes posttraumatic growth, while moral injury leads to depreciation.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Trauma Studies
- Moral Psychology
Background:
- War-related stressors can profoundly disrupt individuals' core beliefs, influencing trauma outcomes.
- The specific roles of moral processes in post-traumatic outcomes require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between war-related stressors (WRS), core-belief disruption (CBD), and various post-traumatic outcomes.
- To examine the roles of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, moral injury (MI), and moral sensitivity (MS) in mediating these relationships.
- To understand the pathways leading to posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic depreciation (PTD) in adults under ongoing war.
Main Methods:
- A national sample of 6,340 Ukrainian adults was surveyed in 2025.
- Data collected included WRS, CBD, PTSD symptoms, MI, MS, PTG, and PTD.
- Structural equation modeling was used to analyze direct and indirect pathways.
Main Results:
- WRS and CBD significantly predicted PTSD, MI, and MS.
- Moral injury (MI) uniquely predicted posttraumatic depreciation (PTD), while moral sensitivity (MS) uniquely predicted posttraumatic growth (PTG).
- WRS and CBD were linked to PTD via PTSD and MI, and to PTG primarily via MS.
Conclusions:
- Moral injury and moral sensitivity are distinct processes influencing post-traumatic change.
- In ongoing war, moral sensitivity acts as an adaptive pathway to PTG.
- Moral injury serves as a risk pathway associated with PTD.
Keywords:
Posttraumatic stress disorderTrastorno de estrés postraumáticocore belief disruptioncrecimiento postraumáticodepreciación postraumáticaguerra en Ucraniainterrupción de las creencias centraleslesión moralmodelamiento de ecuaciones estructuralesmoral injuryposttraumatic depreciationposttraumatic growthstructural equation modellingwar in Ukraine
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