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. 2023 Mar 15:14:1122264.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1122264. eCollection 2023.

Envisioning the future for families running away from war: Challenges and resources of Ukrainian parents in Italy

Patrizio Paoletti  1 , Giulia Federica Perasso  2 , Carmela Lillo  2 , Grazia Serantoni  2 , Alessandro Maculan  3 , Francesca Vianello  3 , Tania Di Giuseppe  2
Affiliations

Envisioning the future for families running away from war: Challenges and resources of Ukrainian parents in Italy

Patrizio Paoletti et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Since February 2022, 7.8 million people have left Ukraine. In total, 80% are women and children. The present quali-quantitative study is the first in Italy to (i) describe the adaptation challenges and the resources of refugee parents and, indirectly, of their children and (ii) investigate the impact of neuropsychopedagogical training on their wellbeing. The sample includes N = 15 Ukrainian parents (80% mothers, mean age = 34 years) who arrived in Italy in March and April 2022. The parents participated in neuropsychopedagogical training within the program Envisioning the Future (EF): the 10 Keys to Resilience. Before the training, participants completed an ad hoc checklist to detect adjustment difficulties. After the training, they responded to a three-item post-training questionnaire on the course and to a semi-structured interview deepening adaptation problems, personal resources, and the neuropsychopedagogical training effects. Participants report that since they departed from Ukraine, they have experienced sleep, mood, and concentration problems, and specific fears, which they also observed in their children. They report self-efficacy, self-esteem, social support, spirituality, and common humanity as their principal resources. As effects of the training, they report an increased sense of security, quality of sleep, and more frequent positive thoughts. The interviews also reveal a 3-fold positive effect of the training (e.g., behavioral, emotional-relational, and cognitive-narrative).

Keywords: Ukraine; asylum seekers; neuropsychopedagogical training; parents; positive resources; refugees; resilience; war.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impact of the “10 Keys to Resilience” emerging from the interviews with Ukrainian parents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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