Bulletin of Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University.
Series of Psychological Sciences

During periods of intense electoral competition, democratic societies frequently witness a surge in affective polarization, wherein political disagreement ceases to be a matter of policy debate and transforms into moralized intergroup antipathy. Drawing upon Tajfel and Turner's Social Identity Theory and Kruglanski's lay epistemic theory of the Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC), this empirical study investigates the cognitive and affective mechanisms driving voter polarization during the 2019 Ukrainian electoral cycle. A stratified sample of 420 eligible voters (234 females, 186 males; aged 19–67 years) across central, western, and southeastern oblasts was assessed using Webster and Kruglanski's Need for Closure Scale, the Feeling Thermometer and Social Distance Bogardus scales adapted for competing political camps, Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale, and an experimental policy-attribution paradigm. Structural equation modeling revealed that dogmatism and a heightened need for cognitive closure accounted for 47.2% of the variance in out-group political hostility ($p < 0.001$). In the experimental policy task, respondents exhibiting high cognitive rigidity systematically endorsed identical socio-economic proposals when attributed to their favored candidate while rejecting them as manipulative when attributed to an opposing contender. Furthermore, heavy reliance on partisan social media echo chambers amplified moral outrage and reduced willingness to engage in cross-cutting civic dialogue within family and workplace networks. The authors propose media-psychological de-escalation strategies to mitigate post-electoral societal fragmentation.

The pervasive integration of mobile notifications into intimate interpersonal spaces has given rise to "partner phubbing" (phone snubbing)—the act of interrupting face-to-face dyadic interaction to attend to a smartphone. Grounded in Przybylski's self-determination account of the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and McDaniel's construct of "technoference," this study examines the sequential mediation pathway linking FoMO, compulsive smartphone checking, partner phubbing, and romantic relationship satisfaction among emerging adults. Data were collected from 134 heterosexual romantic dyads ($N = 268$ participants; aged 19–27 years, relationship duration exceeding 8 months) using Przybylski's FoMO Scale, Roberts and David's Partner Phubbing Scale, the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire, and Hendrick's Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). Dyadic path analysis indicated that individuals with elevated attachment anxiety experienced acute FoMO regarding broader peer networks, which drove compulsive smartphone monitoring during shared leisure time with their romantic partners ($\beta = 0.49, p < 0.001$). In turn, perceived partner phubbing provoked feelings of relational exclusion, triggered conflicts over divided attention, and significantly eroded relationship satisfaction and emotional intimacy ($\beta = -0.44, p < 0.001$). The deleterious impact of phubbing was particularly pronounced when the phubbed partner also scored high on anxious attachment. Guidelines for integrating "digital hygiene contracts" into premarital and couples counseling are discussed.

Standard fear-conditioning models of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) frequently fail to capture the profound spiritual, ethical, and existential suffering experienced by service members who witness, fail to prevent, or perpetrate acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs during armed conflict. Adopting Litz and Shay's conceptual framework of Moral Injury, this clinical-empirical study delineates the differential symptomatology and cognitive mechanisms distinguishing moral injury from fear-based PTSD in Ukrainian combat veterans. One hundred and forty-six male veterans undergoing inpatient or outpatient psychological rehabilitation completed the Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES), the Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI), the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5), and Enright's Self-Forgiveness Inventory. Confirmatory factor and discriminant analyses demonstrated that while fear-based trauma exposure primarily predicted physiological hyperarousal, startle reactivity, and phobic avoidance, exposure to morally injurious events (such as inability to save fallen comrades or betrayal by command structures) uniquely predicted existential shame, self-handicapping behaviors, demoralization, and suicidal ideation ($R^2 = 0.51, p < 0.001$). Notably, prolonged exposure therapy protocols alone showed limited efficacy in resolving moral injury unless augmented by cognitive restructuring of hindsight bias and experiential self-forgiveness work. The authors outline a culturally adapted 10-session protocol based on Adaptive Disclosure and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

In accordance with Vygotskian cultural-historical developmental theory, complex sociodramatic role-play serves as the primary "zone of proximal development" wherein preschool children master voluntary self-regulation and symbolic subordination to social rules. However, contemporary early childhood environments increasingly substitute unstructured peer play with passive digital screen consumption. This empirical study compares the developmental trajectories of executive functioning and emotional self-regulation in five-to-six-year-old preschoolers across varying domestic and kindergarten activity profiles. A sample of 184 senior kindergarten children (aged 5.2–6.4 years) was evaluated using Zelazo's Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task, the "Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders" (HTKS) behavioral regulation test, Luria's motor-verbal inhibition tasks, and shields and Cicchetti's Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC), alongside parental logs of daily tablet/smartphone usage. ANCOVA controlling for maternal education revealed that children exceeding 2.5 hours of daily fast-paced screen exposure scored significantly lower on inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and delay of gratification ($p < 0.001$) compared to peers engaged in daily collaborative role-play. Furthermore, a 12-week experimental kindergarten intervention utilizing Smirnova's plot-role-play scaffolding methodology produced marked gains in rule-governed behavioral inhibition and frustration tolerance among initially impulsive preschoolers. Practical recommendations for early childhood educators and parents are provided.

The rapid expansion of platform-mediated remote labor and digital freelancing in Ukraine has generated a structural paradox: while non-standard employment affords high spatial and temporal autonomy, it simultaneously exposes workers to chronic income volatility, algorithmic performance ratings, and the erosion of work-home boundaries. Grounded in Jahoda's latent deprivation model and Kossek's boundary management theory, this study investigates the psychological determinants of subjective wellbeing vs. occupational exhaustion among full-time digital freelancers. Survey data were gathered from 256 Ukrainian remote contractors (graphic designers, copywriters, translators, and web developers operating on global freelance platforms; aged 21–42) using De Witte's Job Insecurity Scale, Kreiner's Work-Home Boundary Segmentation Preference Scale, Diener's Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). Latent profile analysis extracted three distinct adaptation clusters: "Autonomous Integrators" (34%), "Overextended Workaholics" (41%), and "Precarious Drifters" (25%). Path modeling demonstrated that perceived financial unpredictability and fear of algorithmic reputation loss directly triggered sleep fragmentation and anxiety ($\beta = 0.45, p < 0.001$). However, freelancers who maintained high career adaptability, diversified client portfolios, and enforced spatial-temporal segmentation rituals between domestic life and digital workspaces preserved high eudaimonic wellbeing.

Following the massive mobilization of grassroots volunteer networks in Ukraine after 2014, a critical challenge by 2019 has become the long-term sustainability and psychological preservation of civic activists operating under diminishing public attention and chronic resource scarcity. Utilizing Clary and Snyder's functional approach to volunteerism and Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis, this study examines the motivational architecture that distinguishes sustained, resilient volunteers from those who experience severe emotional burnout and drop out of civic engagement. A sample of 204 active and former humanitarian, medical, and environmental volunteers (tenure ranging from 2 to 5 years) completed the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI), Boyko's Emotional Burnout Inventory, Mehrabian and Epstein's Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy, and Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13). Discriminant and regression analyses revealed that volunteers driven predominantly by "ego-protective" guilt-reduction or unmoderated "savior complex" hyper-identification exhibited the fastest trajectory toward emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and psychosomatic depletion ($p < 0.001$). Conversely, long-term resilience was anchored in a combination of "values-expressive" and "understanding/skill-acquisition" motivations, reinforced by a strong sense of coherence (meaningfulness and manageability) and realistic boundary-setting regarding personal responsibility. Recommendations for psychological supervision within NGOs are formulated.

High-achieving university students frequently suffer from a covert psychological triad comprising socially prescribed perfectionism, fear of fraudulent exposure (the impostor phenomenon), and paradoxical academic procrastination. Grounded in Hewitt and Flett's multidimensional model of perfectionism and Kristin Neff's conceptualization of self-compassion, this quasi-experimental study evaluates the efficacy of an 8-week integrative Cognitive-Behavioral and Compassion-Focused group intervention for honours undergraduates. Out of 220 screened honours students, 68 individuals exhibiting clinically elevated scores on both the Hewitt-Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) were randomized into an active psychocorrection group ($n = 34$) or a waitlist control group ($n = 34$). Pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 2-month follow-up assessments incorporated Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Lay's General Procrastination Scale, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Repeated-measures ANOVA demonstrated that the intervention group achieved significant reductions in socially prescribed perfectionistic cognitions ($F = 36.4, p < 0.001$), impostor fears ($F = 29.8, p < 0.001$), and evaluative procrastination, mediated by a robust increase in self-kindness and mindfulness vs. over-identification with academic mistakes. The study provides a session-by-session manual for university counseling centers.

During the transition to Ukrainian-medium instruction in primary education, many children raised in balanced or unbalanced bilingual (Ukrainian-Russian) domestic environments exhibit a dissociation between fluent orthographic decoding and impaired deep semantic reading comprehension. Drawing upon Baddeley's multicomponent working memory framework and Luria's syndromic neuropsychological analysis, this study identifies the underlying cognitive-linguistic predictors of reading comprehension deficits in third-grade bilingual learners. A sample of 148 third-grade pupils (aged 8–9 years) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, including Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), pseudoword repetition, backward digit and listening span tests, morphological awareness tasks, Luria's acoustic-gnostic and kinetic praxis probes, and standardized narrative/expository reading comprehension tests. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that while phonological awareness and RAN speed accounted for 56.4% of variance in oral reading fluency, deep text comprehension was primarily governed by verbal working memory updating capacity, morphological-syntactic control, and executive inference generation ($\beta = 0.47, p < 0.001$). Children experiencing cross-linguistic lexical interference without sufficient metalinguistic scaffolding expended disproportionate attentional resources on lexical retrieval, leaving insufficient working memory capacity for macro-structural text integration. Neuropsychologically informed pedagogical remediation exercises are proposed.

In an era characterized by liquid modernity and non-linear career pathways, traditional normative models of youth socialization have been superseded by individualized "life designing" (Savickas), wherein young people must continuously author and revise their biographical trajectories. This mixed-methods study investigates the interplay between life-designing reflexivity, personal autonomy, and the hedonic vs. eudaimonic dimensions of subjective well-being among Ukrainian youth. A sample of 365 young adults (aged 18–29 years) from four regional centers completed Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being, Waterman's Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB), Lyubomirsky's Subjective Happiness Scale, Savickas's Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS), and a semi-structured biographical horizon matrix. Structural equation modeling and latent class analysis demonstrated that eudaimonic well-being—anchored in personal growth and purposeful life-designing—served as a far more stable buffer against macro-social anxiety than hedonic affect balance ($R^2 = 0.53, p < 0.001$). Three biographical design styles were identified: "Strategic Architects" (who harmonize long-term existential goals with tactical adaptability), "Situational Improvisers" (who maximize short-term opportunities but report elevated existential diffusion), and "Normative Conformists" (who rely on parental or institutional scripts and exhibit lower autonomy). Implications for existential life-coaching with emerging adults are discussed.

The proliferation of one-click e-commerce marketplaces, personalized retargeting algorithms, and instant consumer micro-credit has dramatically lowered behavioral friction in retail consumption, accelerating the prevalence of Compulsive Buying-Shopping Disorder (CBSD) in digital environments. Integrating Richins and Dawson's materialism theory with cognitive-affective models of behavioral addiction, this study examines the personality and emotional regulation determinants of impulsive and compulsive online purchasing among Ukrainian consumers. An empirical sample of 318 active e-commerce users (212 females, 106 males; aged 20–45) completed the Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale (BSAS), Rook and Fisher's Buying Impulsiveness Scale, Richins's Material Values Scale (MVS), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Hierarchical regression and path modeling revealed that while low conscientiousness and promotional price-framing triggered occasional impulsive purchases, pathological compulsive buying (observed at subclinical/clinical thresholds in 14.8% of the sample) was primarily driven by negative urgency—the tendency to act rashly to alleviate acute dysphoria, boredom, or loneliness ($\beta = 0.52, p < 0.001$)—combined with the belief that material acquisitions confer social status and identity repair. Post-purchase euphoria was rapidly followed by financial guilt, perpetuating a cyclical addictive loop. Behavioral self-control strategies for digital consumers are outlined.

Psychogenic school refusal accompanied by morning somatoform complaints (recurrent abdominal pain, cephaloalgia, psychogenic nausea, and subfebrile states lacking organic etiology) represents a frequent yet frequently misdiagnosed clinical presentation during the transition from primary to middle school (ages 10–12). Adopting Minuchin's structural family systems model and Kearney's functional model of school refusal behavior, this clinical study investigates how covert marital discord and parent-child triangulation maintain psychosomatic school avoidance. Eighty-two pre-adolescents referred after negative pediatric gastroenterological and neurological workups, along with their parents, were assessed using the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R), the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Olson's FACES-IV, and projective family sociograms. Analysis revealed that in 68.3% of cases, the child's morning somatic crisis served a homeostatic systemic function: detouring covert parental conflict by uniting an emotionally over-involved mother and a peripheral father around the "fragile patient" role, while simultaneously gratifying the child's separation anxiety and avoidance of academic peer evaluation. A comparative clinical trial demonstrated that a 10-session Structural-Systemic Family Therapy protocol combined with graduated school re-entry achieved an 84% sustained return-to-school rate at 6-month follow-up, significantly outperforming individual child supportive counseling alone (52%).

Law enforcement patrol officers and penitentiary service inspectors operate within strict institutional display rules that mandate emotional neutrality, authoritative composure, and the suppression of fear, disgust, or anger during volatile interpersonal encounters. Grounded in Hochschild's and Grandey's theories of Emotional Labor, this empirical study investigates how chronic reliance on "surface acting" (feigning institutionally required emotions or masking felt affect without altering internal appraisal) vs. "deep acting" contributes to emotional dissonance, professional cynicism, and occupational exhaustion. Two hundred and eighteen uniformed personnel (132 patrol police officers, 86 penitentiary inspectors; years of service ranging from 2 to 19 years) completed Brotheridge and Lee's Emotional Labour Scale (ELS), Zapf's Frankfurt Emotion Work Scales (FEWS), the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (MBI-GS), and Buss-Perry's Aggression Questionnaire. Structural regression analyses demonstrated that emotional dissonance and surface acting accounted for 49.5% of the variance in depersonalization and emotional exhaustion ($p < 0.001$). Officers who habitually suppressed acute emotional reactions without post-shift cognitive processing exhibited heightened spillover hostility in domestic relationships and cynical dehumanization of citizens/inmates. The author designs a tactical emotional regulation and post-incident debriefing program tailored for law enforcement psychological services.

Despite increased academic mobility and European integration initiatives in Ukrainian higher education, a substantial proportion of non-linguistic university students exhibit a pronounced gap between passive grammatical knowledge of English and active oral communicative competence—a phenomenon rooted in Foreign Language Anxiety (xenoglossophobia). Drawing upon Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope's conceptualization of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and MacIntyre's heuristic pyramid model of Willingness to Communicate (WTC), this study examines the affective, self-evaluative, and interpersonal barriers inhibiting L2 speech production. A sample of 264 second- and third-year undergraduates from economics, law, and psychology faculties completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), McCroskey's Willingness to Communicate Scale, Watson and Friend's Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) Scale, and an oral communicative simulation task. Path analysis revealed that fear of peer ridicule and perfectionistic intolerance of phonetic/syntactic errors exerted a stronger inhibitory effect on L2 speaking willingness ($\beta = -0.54, p < 0.001$) than objective lexical deficits. High trait social anxiety interacted with authoritarian, error-punitive pedagogical correction styles to induce "communicative stupor" and working memory blockade during spontaneous L2 dialogue. Suggestopedic and drama-based psychological desensitization techniques for university language classrooms are presented.

Effective metabolic control in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) depends heavily on lifelong patient self-management, dietary adherence, and glycemic monitoring; yet clinical non-adherence remains pervasive due to maladaptive psychological reactions to chronic diagnosis. Integrating Luria and Nikolaeva's concept of the "Internal Picture of Disease" with Leventhal's Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation, this clinical-psychological study investigates how illness representations and disease acceptance influence treatment adherence and glycemic control ($\text{HbA1c}$) in adult T2DM outpatients. One hundred andfifty-two endocrinology outpatients (aged 42–68 years; illness duration 2–14 years) completed Felton's Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ), the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS-17), the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8), and the TOBOL typology of attitude toward disease. Cluster analysis identified three predominant maladaptive nosognosic profiles: "Anosognosic-Minimizing" (denying disease severity until vascular complications arise), "Hypochondriacal-Depressive" (characterized by overwhelming diabetes distress and fatalistic passivity), and "Ergopathic-Harmonic" (constructive integration of self-care regimens into daily life). Regression modeling confirmed that illness acceptance and internal health locus of control significantly predicted lower $\text{HbA1c}$ levels ($\beta = -0.41, p < 0.001$) via consistent behavioral adherence. Motivational interviewing protocols for endocrinology clinics are outlined.

Within Ryan and Deci's Self-Determination Theory (SDT), recent theoretical advances (Chen et al., 2015; Vansteenkiste & Ryan) have demonstrated that psychological need frustration is not merely the absence of need satisfaction, but a distinct, active threat mechanism that precipitates psychopathology and ill-being. To equip Ukrainian researchers and practitioners with a standardized diagnostic tool capable of differentiating these dimensions, this study presents the cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the 24-item Ukrainian-language Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS). Following double-blind translation and cognitive debriefing, the instrument was administered to a sample of 760 Ukrainian respondents (468 females, 292 males; aged 18–61 years). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using robust maximum likelihood estimation compared three competing structural models: a 3-factor valence-combined model (Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness), a 2-factor general Satisfaction vs. Frustration model, and the hypothesized 6-factor model distinguishing satisfaction and frustration across each of the three basic needs. The 6-factor correlated model demonstrated superior fit to the empirical data ($\chi^2/\text{df} = 2.14, \text{CFI} = 0.958, \text{TLI} = 0.949, \text{RMSEA} = 0.039, \text{SRMR} = 0.036$) and strict multi-group measurement invariance across gender and age cohorts. Structural path analyses confirmed predictive validity: need satisfaction uniquely predicted vitality and life satisfaction, whereas need frustration uniquely predicted depressive symptoms and somatization.