War-related stress scale

Abstract

Abstract Background The current war in Ukraine has affected the well-being of people worldwide. In order to understand how difficult the situation is, specific stressors associated with war need to be measured. To address this, we have developed an inventory of war-related stressors, including its short form. Methods A list of potential war-related stressors was created, and the content validity of each item was assessed. The list, together with other validated scales, was administered to a representative sample of the Slovak population (effective N = 1851). Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity analysis, and network analysis were carried out to determine the optimal scale (long and short form) focused on war-related stressors. Results The full version of the scale consists of 21 items that can be further divided into three factors: society-related stressors, person-related stressors, and security-related stressors. The short version of the scale consists of nine items loaded onto one factor. These items cover fear for one’s safety and future, access to basic needs, potential worsening of the economic situation, and escalation of the conflict with the possibility of a nuclear threat. The results of the network analysis indicate that concern about escalation and fear of an economic crisis play a central role. Conclusions The scale attempts to cover a wide spectrum of areas that are affected by war and its potential consequences on people who live outside the conflict area. Given the complexity of the issue, we invite researchers to modify the scale and adjust it to cultural, geographical, and time-specific factors.