Psychological peculiarities of children –refugees from the zone of armed conflict in the southeast of Ukraine

Abstract

Objective: We assessed the psychoemotional state and determined the typological personality traits of the children – the forced migrants from the zone of armed conflict in the south-east of Ukraine. Methods and scope of research: Psychological testing of 179 children - forced migrants from the zone of armed conflict in the south-east of Ukraine, was carried out. The age of the children ranged from 10 to 17 years, 92 boys and 87 girls were among them. As a basic tool for the assessment of the psychoemotional sphere of the child, we used the provocative method of “non-existent animal” test. The test was evaluated according to generally accepted criteria in psychology. Results: The assessment of the psychoemotional sphere of children - forced migrants from the combat zone, with the help of the test "non-existent animal" revealed the presence of anxiety, aggressiveness, and exhaustion in the overwhelming majority of them. Based on the prevalence of a high level of symptoms of the symptom complex or their combination, 5 observation groups were formed and typological personality traits of children were determined. The group of the children with a predominance of the high level of anxiety signs (43.01%) was the most numerous. By number, the group of the children with a combination of high rates of two symptom complexes — anxiety and aggressiveness (23.46%) was at the second place. The third group consisted of children with a predominance of the signs of aggressiveness (16.2%). Group four (12.29%) included the children with the combination of the signs of exhaustion and anxiety. Group five (5.02%) was characterized by the low rates for all three symptom complexes. An assessment of the gender characteristics of the psychoemotional state of the children showed that the girls were more prone to the manifestations of anxiety, while the boys were characterized by the manifestations of aggressiveness, which can be accompanied with a high level of anxiety. Exhaustion symptom complex was found with the same frequency both in boys and girls.