Ukrainian teens living in the country’s eastern region have seen their odds of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms rise 14-fold since the launch of Russia’s invasion in 2014, when Russia occupied and annexed Crimea. This dramatic rise is just one of the profound psychological tolls affecting Ukrainian adolescents that was reported in a
study published today in
JAMA Pediatrics.
Why It’s Relevant
The destruction and displacement brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war has likely damaged the mental health of many Ukrainian children and adolescents, but there is limited quantitative data on the war’s cumulative impact.
Making use of school surveys conducted in 2016-2017 (n=2,766) and again in 2023-2024 (n=2,720)—bridging Russia’s significant military escalation in February 2022—researchers sought to address this gap. Respondents were Ukrainian adolescents ages 11 to 17 from the Donetsk region (exposed to war at both time points) and the Kirovograd region (exposed to war just in 2023-2024).
By the Numbers
- Compared with adolescents not exposed to war, those in Donetsk had 4.6 times the likelihood of PTSD symptoms in 2016-2017 and 14.1 times the likelihood by 2023-2024.
- Compared with 2016-2017 when they were not exposed to war, adolescents in Kirovograd in 2023-2024 had 11.7 times the likelihood of PTSD symptoms.
- Overall, 13% of respondents in Kirovograd and 16% in Donetsk reported PTSD symptoms in 2023-2024.
- Youth in both regions also had significantly higher odds of severe depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts by 2023-2024.
The Other Side
The survey could only assess psychiatric symptoms, not diagnoses. There may also have been other cultural, socioeconomical, political, and/or educational changes in these two regions during the seven-year survey gap that influenced the responses.
What’s Next
“As the full-scale war enters its fourth year, there is an urgent need to prioritize and scale up mental health interventions to address the needs of adolescents,” the researchers concluded.
Related Info
Source
Andre Sourander et al. Mental Health of Ukrainian Adolescents After Russian Invasions. JAMA Pediatrics. December 8, 2025. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.5094
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