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

The rollout of national immunization campaigns against SARS-CoV-2 in early 2021 encountered widespread public ambivalence in Ukraine, demonstrating that vaccine availability alone does not ensure behavioral uptake. Grounded in Betsch's 5C model of psychological antecedents to vaccination (Confidence, Complacency, Constraints, Calculation, and Collective Responsibility) and Ritov and Baron's cognitive theory of omission bias, this empirical study examines the cognitive-affective architecture of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. A stratified sample of 486 Ukrainian adults (308 females, 178 males; aged 19–71 years) completed the 5C Psychological Antecedents of Vaccination Scale, Wallston's Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Form A, an experimental omission-commission risk trade-off task, and measures of epistemic trust in medical and governmental institutions. Multinomial logistic regression and structural equation modeling identified three distinct attitudinal profiles: "Proactive Acceptors" (31.4%), "Cautious Wait-and-Seers" (44.9%), and "Categorical Refusers" (23.7%). While Categorical Refusers were primarily driven by conspiratorial worldviews and high psychological reactance, the largest group—Cautious Wait-and-Seers—was governed by pronounced omission bias (overweighting the perceived immediate commission risk of rare vaccine side effects relative to the statistical omission risk of viral infection) compounded by low institutional confidence and high "Chance" health locus of control ($\beta = 0.49, p < 0.001$). Collective responsibility and altruistic concern for vulnerable relatives served as the strongest positive predictors of immunization readiness. Evidence-based framing strategies for public health communication are delineated.

As epidemiological restrictions eased and universities and workplaces initiated phased returns to in-person operations in spring 2021, clinical psychologists observed a paradoxical phenomenon colloquially termed "cave syndrome" or post-quarantine social re-entry anxiety—wherein individuals exhibited acute distress and behavioral avoidance when leaving domestic isolation even after perceived infection risks declined. Drawing upon Clark and Wells's cognitive model of social anxiety and Mowrer's two-factor theory of avoidance conditioning, this study investigates the mechanisms maintaining social re-entry refusal. Two hundred and sixty-eight adults (aged 18–54) scheduled to return to on-site academic or corporate environments completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia (MIA), the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12), and a custom Quarantine Safety Behavior Questionnaire. Path analysis revealed that twelve months of state-sanctioned social avoidance had negatively reinforced social withdrawal, deconditioning interpersonal behavioral fluency and inflating anticipatory anxiety regarding face-to-face evaluation and crowded transit spaces ($R^2 = 0.46, p < 0.001$). Individuals with pre-existing subclinical social anxiety and high inhibitory intolerance of uncertainty relied heavily on maladaptive safety behaviors (avoiding eye contact, premature departure from gatherings), which prevented fear extinction upon re-entry. A graduated interoceptive and in-vivo exposure protocol for facilitating post-lockdown resocialization is presented.

By 2021, corporate human resource architectures had shifted from emergency lockdown teleworking toward permanent institutionalization of either fully remote or hybrid (2–3 days in-office, 2–3 days remote) work models. Guided by Ashforth's boundary theory and Sonnentag's Recovery Experience framework, this comparative organizational psychology study evaluates how hybrid, fully remote, and traditional on-site work arrangements differentially impact professional isolation, after-hours psychological detachment, and emotional exhaustion. Empirical data were collected from 336 white-collar employees across financial, marketing, and IT enterprises in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, and Dnipro using Golden's Professional Isolation Scale, Sonnentag and Fritz's Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ), Clark's Work-Family Border Questionnaire, and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). ANCOVA and moderation analyses demonstrated a significant curvilinear benefit for structured hybrid arrangements: employees working 2–3 days on-site reported significantly lower professional isolation and higher informal knowledge-sharing than fully remote workers ($p < 0.001$), while retaining superior temporal autonomy and lower commuting stress than full-time office staff. However, "unstructured hybrid" regimes characterized by asynchronous "always-on" messaging norms resulted in high work-to-home boundary permeability, impairing evening psychological detachment and sleep quality. Organizational guidelines for synchronizing team office days and enforcing "right-to-disconnect" norms are formulated.

The explosive adoption of algorithmically curated short-form video platforms (specifically TikTok) among Ukrainian adolescents between 2020 and 2021 has introduced a novel cognitive environment characterized by hyper-rapid visual cuts (15–60 seconds) and variable-ratio intermittent dopaminergic reinforcement. Drawing upon Posner and Petersen's attentional network theory and behavioral economics models of delay discounting, this experimental study investigates the relationship between heavy daily short-form video consumption and executive sustained attention in middle adolescents. A sample of 210 adolescents (aged 13–16 years) was stratified into high-intensity users ($>3$ hours/day of short-form video feeds; $n = 108$) and low-intensity/non-users ($<45$ minutes/day; $n = 102$). Participants completed the Continuous Performance Task (CPT-II), the Attention Network Test (ANT), Kirby's Monetary Choice Delay Discounting Questionnaire, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Neurocognitive testing revealed that while alerting and exogenous orienting networks did not differ significantly between groups, high-intensity short-form video consumers committed significantly more commission errors on the CPT-II, exhibited steeper performance vigilance decrements over 15-minute monotonous tasks ($F = 34.2, p < 0.001$), and demonstrated heightened intolerance for delayed rewards. Constant exposure to algorithmically optimized micro-stimuli appears to elevate baseline sensory stimulation thresholds, rendering linear educational texts aversive. Cognitive-attentional hygiene interventions for schools are proposed.

Penitentiary psychologists providing long-term psychocorrectional and suicide-prevention accompaniment to inmates serving life imprisonment operate within a closed, hyper-regulated environment marked by existential hopelessness, manipulative psychopathic interactions, and minimal visible rehabilitative progress. Grounded in Zeyer's theory of professional personality deformations and Plutchik's structural model of ego defense mechanisms, this study examines the syndromic structure of occupational burnout and personality distortion in maximum-security correctional psychologists. Sixty-eight penitentiary psychologists working with life-sentenced cohorts across Ukrainian correctional colonies were compared against 72 psychologists working in minimum/medium-security juvenile and general facilities. Assessment tools included Boyko's Emotional Burnout Inventory, the Life Style Index (LSI) of ego defenses, Leary's Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality, and a professional cynicism scale. Results demonstrated that specialists in life-sentenced sectors exhibited pronounced "emotional economizing," moral-evaluative rigidity, and authoritarian-suspicious interpersonal dominance ($p < 0.001$) after 5–7 years of specialized tenure. Projective identification and intellectualization served as dominant defenses against the chronic existential vacuum of life-term wards. The authors design a rotational supervision and existential decompression program for maximum-security penitentiary staff.

During the prolonged stress and disrupted domestic routines of 2020–2021, clinical practitioners noted a marked rise in maladaptive emotional eating and binge-purge cycles among young adults. Moving beyond restrictive dietary paradigms, Tylka's model of Intuitive Eating and Altman's construct of Body Compassion emphasize interoceptive responsiveness to physiological hunger and satiety cues alongside non-judgmental acceptance of bodily form. This study investigates how body compassion and interoceptive awareness mediate the relationship between emotion dysregulation and subclinical binge-eating behaviors in young Ukrainian women. Two hundred and forty-four female respondents (aged 19–30 years) completed the Binge Eating Scale (BES), Tylka's Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2), the Body Compassion Scale (BCS), the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Structural equation modeling confirmed that difficulties in emotion regulation and alexithymic confusion between visceral anxiety and physiological hunger directly predicted emotional eating episodes ($\beta = 0.54, p < 0.001$). Conversely, body compassion—specifically defusion from appearance-related self-criticism—buffered against the "dietary restraint $\rightarrow$ disinhibition $\rightarrow$ binge guilt" cycle and fostered reliance on internal satiety cues. Clinical implications for integrating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with intuitive eating counseling are discussed.

By 2021, seven years after the initial wave of forced displacement from eastern Ukraine and Crimea, the socio-psychological dynamics between internally displaced persons (IDPs) and receiving territorial communities had transitioned from acute humanitarian reception to long-term structural negotiation. Adapting Berry's mutual acculturation framework and Scannell and Gifford's tripartite model of Place Attachment, this study examines how bilateral integration expectations and place identity reconstruction shape social cohesion in host municipalities. Dual-sample survey data were collected from 215 long-term IDPs and 240 native residents across Vinnytsia, Lviv, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts using the Mutual Acculturation Attitudes Scale, the Place Attachment Inventory (measuring attachment to both hometown of origin and current city of residence), Stephan's Integrated Threat Theory Scale, and Putnam's Social Capital Index. Results revealed that IDPs who developed "hyphenated/dual place attachment"—honoring biographical roots in their native region while actively investing in civic and neighborhood improvements in their receiving city—achieved the highest psychological wellbeing and host-community acceptance ($p < 0.001$). Latent intergroup tension persisted primarily in municipalities with acute competition over social housing and municipal budgets, where zero-sum realistic threat perceptions eroded empathic solidarity. Participatory community-building practices are recommended.

Chronic sleep-onset and sleep-maintenance insomnia affects an estimated 25–35% of university students following the circadian disruptions of distance learning; yet behavioural sleep hygiene education alone frequently fails to resolve persistent sleep disturbances. Grounded in Harvey's cognitive model of insomnia and Ong's two-level metacognitive model of sleep arousal, this study investigates how primary cognitive intrusions interact with secondary metacognitive beliefs about sleep to perpetuate chronic insomnia. One hundred and ninety-two undergraduate students meeting ICSD-3 criteria for chronic insomnia disorder or subthreshold insomnia completed the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS), Espie's Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale (DBAS-16), and Waine's Metacognitions Questionnaire-Insomnia (MCQ-I). Hierarchical regression and mediation modeling demonstrated that cognitive pre-sleep arousal outranked somatic arousal by a factor of 2.8 in predicting sleep onset latency. Crucially, positive metacognitive beliefs ("Analyzing my unfinished academic tasks in bed helps me prepare for tomorrow") and negative metacognitive beliefs ("If I do not fall asleep within 20 minutes, my cognitive functioning tomorrow will collapse") mediated 58.3% of the relationship between daytime academic stress and nocturnal insomnia severity ($p < 0.001$). Metacognitive therapy (MCT) modules for augmenting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) are outlined.

In anticipation of the official implementation of the World Health Organization's 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), clinical trauma psychology has undergone a paradigm shift by formally distinguishing Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) from classic PTSD. Whereas classic PTSD comprises three core symptom clusters (re-experiencing in the here and now, avoidance, and current sense of threat), CPTSD incorporates three additional clusters collectively termed Disturbances in Self-Organization (DSO): affective dysregulation, negative self-concept, and relational disturbances. This clinical-empirical study validates the diagnostic differentiation between PTSD and CPTSD in a Ukrainian trauma-exposed sample of 228 adult outpatients (combat veterans, former captives, and survivors of chronic domestic abuse) using the Ukrainian version of Cloitre's International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Latent Class Analysis (LCA) confirmed three distinct empirical classes matching theoretical predictions: a "Classic PTSD" class (high core symptoms, low DSO; 34.2%), a "Complex PTSD" class (high core symptoms and high DSO; 41.7%), and a "Low Symptom/Resilient" class (24.1%). Cumulative poly-victimization, captivity exposure, and early developmental trauma strongly predicted membership in the CPTSD class ($\text{OR} = 3.84, p < 0.001$). Phase-based treatment implications (such as STAIR Narrative Therapy) are discussed.

Throughout 2021, global and Ukrainian labor markets witnessed a widespread psychological recalibration of career priorities—manifesting either as voluntary career transitions or as covert psychological withdrawal from overwork culture (withholding discretionary Organizational Citizenship Behaviors while fulfilling only baseline contractual duties). Grounded in Rosso and Steger's model of Work as Meaning and Siegrist's Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model, this study investigates the existential and organizational predictors of post-lockdown career re-evaluation among mid-career Ukrainian specialists. Survey data were gathered from 290 corporate professionals (aged 26–47) across banking, retail management, and IT sectors using Steger's Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI), the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, Podsakoff's Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) Scale, and Längle's Existential Fulfillment Scale. Structural equation modeling revealed that pandemic-induced mortality salience had heightened employees' intolerance for "alienated labor" characterized by high bureaucratic effort and low existential significance ($\beta = -0.51, p < 0.001$). When organizations demanded uncompensated overcommitment without offering psychological reciprocity or value alignment, employees adopted defensive disengagement ("psychological downsizing of work centrality") to protect personal and familial wellbeing. Strategies for redesigning job architectures to foster task significance are proposed.

As environmental degradation, industrial pollution, and global climate anomalies gain salience in youth consciousness, environmental psychology has increasingly examined "eco-anxiety" (Clayton)—chronic fear of environmental doom and ecological loss. Drawing upon Stern's Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory of environmentalism and Clayton and Karazsia's multidimensional conceptualization of climate change anxiety, this study explores whether eco-anxiety paralyzes young adults into eco-fatalism or mobilizes constructive pro-environmental action. A sample of 352 undergraduate students (aged 17–23 years) from four Ukrainian universities completed the Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS), Dunlap's New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale, Mayer and Frantz's Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS), and a multi-domain Pro-Environmental Behavior Inventory (recycling, energy conservation, green consumerism, and civic environmental activism). Moderation and curvilinear regression analyses revealed an inverted-U relationship: moderate cognitive-emotional climate worry, when paired with high perceived collective efficacy and biospheric values, robustly mobilized civic environmental activism and sustainable consumption ($\beta = 0.46, p < 0.001$). However, severe functional impairment on the CCAS coupled with low institutional trust triggered "eco-paralysis" and depressive helplessness. The authors outline eco-existential group work techniques to channel ecological distress into collective agency.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1 and Level 2 entering inclusive primary school classrooms frequently exhibit pronounced dyspraxia, postural-vestibular instability, and tactile-auditory sensory modulation atypicalities that impede graphomotor acquisition and communicative speech praxis. Integrating Ayres's Sensory Integration (ASI) theory with Semenovitch's method of replacement ontogenesis, this study evaluates a 16-week comprehensive sensorimotor neuropsychological correction program for first- and second-grade pupils with ASD. Forty-eight children with ASD (aged 6.5–8.5 years) attending inclusive schools in Kyiv and Vinnytsia were assigned to either an experimental group receiving three weekly sessions of integrated vestibular-proprioceptive scaffolding, interhemispheric kinesiological exercises, and articulatory bioenergoplastia ($n = 24$), or a standard pedagogical support control group ($n = 24$). Pre- and post-intervention assessments utilized Dunn's Short Sensory Profile (SSP), Luria's dynamic and reciprocal coordination probes, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2), and standardized graphomotor/speech intelligibility ratings. Non-parametric Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney comparisons demonstrated statistically significant reductions in sensory hyper-reactivity and stereotypic motor self-stimulation ($p < 0.001$), alongside marked improvements in bimanual reciprocal coordination, handwriting spatial organization, and syllabic kinetic switching in the experimental cohort. Practical guidelines for school inclusion resource rooms are provided.

The rapid digitalization of pension banking, utility payments, and state digital services in 2020–2021 has been accompanied by a surge in sophisticated vishing (voice phishing) and social engineering schemes targeting senior citizens. Drawing upon Carstensen's Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (specifically the age-related "positivity bias" that attenuates threat detection in facial and vocal cues) and dual-process models of persuasion, this forensic-gerontopsychological study investigates the cognitive and affective vulnerabilities predisposing older adults to financial deception. One hundred and twenty-six older adults (aged 62–79 years), including 58 documented victims of telephone/cyber financial fraud and 68 non-victimized peers matched for age and digital banking usage, completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and a simulated phishing/vishing credibility judgment task. Logistic regression analysis revealed that susceptibility to social engineering was predicted by two distinct pathways: first, subtle age-related declines in prefrontal inhibitory control (FAB scores) impairs the ability to halt automatic compliance when scammers induce artificial time pressure and panic ("your relative is in an accident" or "your bank card is blocked"); second, chronic emotional loneliness heightened susceptibility to "affectionate/helpful authority" pretexts ($\text{OR} = 3.12, p < 0.001$). Victimological prevention workshops for senior centers are outlined.

Parents accompanying a child through prolonged inpatient pediatric oncological treatment confront chronic existential terror, invasive medical procedures, and unremitting uncertainty regarding remission outcomes. In such contexts, traditional cognitive restructuring aimed at disputing catastrophic thoughts often rings hollow because the objective threat is real. Grounded in Hayes's Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) hexaflex model, this clinical psycho-oncology study evaluates whether cultivating psychological flexibility and reducing experiential avoidance alleviates caregiver traumatization. Seventy-two parents (58 mothers, 14 fathers) of children undergoing active chemotherapy at two regional pediatric hematology-oncology units participated in either a 6-week brief bedside/small-group ACT intervention ($n = 36$) or standard hospital supportive care ($n = 36$). Pre- and post-intervention measures included the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ), the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Repeated-measures ANCOVA demonstrated that the ACT intervention significantly decreased experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion with catastrophic imagery ($p < 0.001$), enabling parents to remain emotionally present and values-anchored for their hospitalized child despite fluctuating medical prognoses. The study establishes ACT as an essential third-wave modality in Ukrainian pediatric psycho-oncology.

The pervasive digitalization of professional, educational, and informational life by late 2021 has necessitated specialized psychodiagnostic instruments capable of differentiating specifically digital-mediated exhaustion and compulsive negative news consumption from general clinical burnout or internet addiction. This methodological study presents the Ukrainian linguistic adaptation, factor structure verification, and psychometric standardization of Erten and Özdemir's 24-item Digital Burnout Scale (DBS) alongside Sharma et al.'s 15-item Doomscrolling Scale. Following rigorous double-blind translation and expert content validity indexing ($\text{I-CVI} > 0.88$), psychometric data were gathered from a heterogeneous sample of 812 Ukrainian internet users (494 females, 318 males; aged 18–62 years). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using robust maximum likelihood estimation confirmed the hierarchical three-factor structure of the Ukrainian DBS—comprising Digital Aging (psychophysiological fatigue from screen exposure), Digital Deprivation (anxiety when disconnected), and Emotional Exhaustion ($\chi^2/\text{df} = 2.28, \text{CFI} = 0.961, \text{TLI} = 0.953, \text{RMSEA} = 0.042, \text{SRMR} = 0.038$; overall $\alpha = 0.92$). The Ukrainian Doomscrolling Scale demonstrated a unidimensional structure with high internal consistency ($\alpha = 0.90, \omega = 0.91$) and strong convergent validity with intolerance of uncertainty, nocturnal sleep latency, and generalized anxiety ($r = 0.57, p < 0.001$). Normative percentile tables are provided for organizational and clinical screening.