When war becomes chronic: The longitudinal relationship between coping and continuous traumatic stress

Continuous traumatic stress response (CTSR), characterized by exhaustion, anger, and fear or helplessness, emerges from ongoing exposure to traumatic stressors, yet little research explores its risk and protective factors, specifically its relationship with coping strategies.

This three-wave longitudinal study examined changes in coping and CTSR as war-related stressors evolved between chronic (Wave 2, March-June 2024) and acute (June 2025) stages. Cross-lagged panel models were used to assess contemporaneous associations between CTSR and coping styles and their time-dependent changes.

Participants (N = 522 at Wave 1, N = 244 at Wave 2, N = 287 at Wave 3) primarily experienced secondary exposure to war stressors, with all exposed to missile attack sirens. Cross-lagged panel models demonstrated that distress exerted a stronger temporal influence on coping than the reverse: Higher CTSR at Waves 1 and 2 consistently predicted subsequent decreases in forward-focused, trauma-focused, and flexible coping over time, while coping strategies showed limited capacity to predict later CTSR. Additionally, at Wave 3 (acute), preceding trauma-focused coping predicted lower peritraumatic dissociation, whereas preceding forward-focused coping predicted higher peritraumatic dissociation.

These findings suggest that coping capacity under chronic threat is not a fixed asset but a dynamic resource vulnerable to erosion. This has implications for public health and individual support in ongoing conflict particularly the need to mitigate ongoing distress to protect depletable coping resources and preserve emotional presence during acute escalations. These results underscore the dynamic nature of coping in chronic trauma contexts, highlighting the need for tailored interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).