Description
ABSTRACT
Background: migration processes often trigger uncontrolled aversive responses, necessitating ongoing monitoring of their transformations.
Purpose: to explore the psychological features of learned helplessness among Ukrainian forced migrants currently residing in Belgium.
Design/Methodology/Approach: a mixed methods approach was applied, combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. The study involved 250 Ukrainian forced migrants, including adult men and women (aged 29–67) and school-age children (aged 10–17), all of whom had been displaced due to the war and were residing in Belgium during the period from February to April 2023. Participants underwent standardized psychological assessments, including the Learned Helplessness Scale (LHS), the Resilience Scale (RS), and the Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI).
Findings: empirically explicated complex psychological signs of learned helplessness and personal coping strategies in each of the age groups: «resource care» (women from 29 to 58 years old); «internal autonomization» (women of the age category 60 +); «compensatory identity» (men from 42 to 59 years old); and «delegated endurance» (children from 10 to 17 years old).
Practical Implications: the findings may inform cross-cultural psychotherapy for immigrant families, where the clinical discourse of behavioral helplessness functions as a barrier to acquiring new social experiences.
Conclusions: the development of targeted interventions aimed should become a priority for both international policy frameworks on forced migration and for mental health professionals.
Keywords: learned helplessness, psychological resilience, psychological and emotional burnout, coping strategies, forced migration, men, women, school-age children
