RELATIONAL NEEDS SATISFACTION AS A RESOURCE FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION OF CIVILIANS UNDER CONDITIONS OF WAR-RELATED STRESS

Abstract

Relevance of the study: Prolonged exposure to war-related events places a considerable psychological burden on the civilian population and highlights the need to identify resources associated with psychological adaptation. One such resource may be relational needs satisfaction, which encompasses a sense of safety in relationships, recognition of one’s value, the possibility of relying on a stable and dependable other, sharing personal experience, freely expressing oneself, having an impact on others, receiving initiative from others, and experiencing love and gratitude.

Aim of the study: To identify the relationships between relational needs satisfaction and indicators of psychological adaptation among civilians under conditions of war-related stress and to determine the predictive significance of specific relational needs for chronic war stress, perceived stress, and psychological well-being.

Research methods: the Ukrainian Relational Needs Satisfaction Scale (U-RNS Scale) by N. O. Yehonska-Spencer, V. A. Pavlovska-Kravchuk, and Ya. S. Ponomarenko; the Chronic War Stress Scale for Civilians (CWSS-C) by T. V. Ivanova; the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) by S. Cohen, T. Kamarck, and R. Mermelstein, adapted into Ukrainian by O. O. Veldbrekht and N. I. Tavrovetska; and the Flourishing Scale by E. Diener et al. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used for statistical data processing. The sample consisted of 75 civilians.

Results of the study: A system of statistically significant relationships was identified between relational needs satisfaction and indicators of psychological adaptation. The overall U-RNS score was positively associated with psychological well-being and negatively associated with emotional isolation, perceived stress, the overall level of chronic war stress, traumatic reactivity, and cognitive avoidance. The regression model for chronic war stress explained 43.8% of its variance; significant predictors were safety, acceptance by a stable and dependable other, initiative from the other, and shared personal experience. The perceived stress model explained 46.1% of the variance; significant predictors were safety, acceptance by a stable and dependable other, recognition of one’s value, and self-definition and self-expression. The psychological well-being model explained 49.2% of the variance; self-definition and self-expression, recognition of one’s value, love and gratitude, and shared personal experience demonstrated independent predictive significance.

Conclusions: Relational needs satisfaction is systematically associated with indicators of psychological adaptation among civilians under conditions of war-related stress. Lower stress levels are most consistently associated with the satisfaction of needs for safety and a stable, dependable other, whereas psychological well-being is more closely associated with opportunities for self-expression, experiencing one’s value, positive emotional exchange, and sharing personal experience. The findings support considering relational needs satisfaction as a promising psychological resource for the adaptation of civilians under conditions of war.