Association Between the Time Spent on and Sources of the News of Russo-Ukrainian War and Psychological Distress Among Individuals in Poland and Ukraine: The Mediating Effect of Rumination

Dian-Jeng Li,1– 3 Agata Chudzicka-Czupała,4 Mateusz Paliga,5 Nadiya Hapon,6 Liudmyla Karamushka,7 Marta Żywiołek-Szeja,4 Roger S McIntyre,8– 10 Soon-Kiat Chiang,11 Yi-Lung Chen,12,13 Cheng-Fang Yen,1,14,15 Roger Ho Chun Man16,17 1Graduate Institute of Medicine and School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan; 2Department of Addiction Science, Kaohsiung Municipal Kai-Syuan Psychiatric Hospital, Kaohsiung, 80276, Taiwan; 3Department of Nursing, Meiho University, Pingtung, 91200, Taiwan; 4Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Katowice, Poland; 5Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland; 6Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Ivan Franko National University in Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine; 7G. S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine; 8Department of Psychiatry University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; 9Department of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; 10Brain and Cognition Discovery Foundation, Toronto, Canada; 11Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; 12Department of Psychology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan; 13Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan; 14Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 15College of Professional Studies, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan; 16Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; 17Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech), National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeCorrespondence: Cheng-Fang Yen, Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan, Tel +886-7-3121101 ext. 6822, Fax +886-7-3134761, Email chfaye@cc.kmu.edu.tw Yi-Lung Chen, Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, No. 500, Lioufeng Road, Wufeng, Taichung, 41354, Taiwan, Tel +886-4-23323456#20106, Fax +886-4-23321206, Email elong@asia.edu.twBackground: The Russo-Ukrainian War has resulted in massive social, economic, and psychological burdens worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the associations between time spent on the war-related news and psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the mediating effects of rumination on the associations in people residing in Poland and Ukraine.Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 1438 internet users in Poland and Ukraine, and collected data on levels of rumination, psychological distress, and the amount of time spent on and sources of the news of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping methods was used to evaluate the mediation effect. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify predictive effect of the source of the war-related news on psychological distress and rumination.Results: The results showed a mediating effect of rumination on the association between the amount of time spent on the war-related news and psychological distress among participants in Poland (β = 0.16, p < 0.001) and Ukraine (β = 0.15, p < 0.001). Approaching the news from television was associated with rumination (β = 0.607, p < 0.001) and PTSD symptoms in Poland (β = 2.475, p = 0.009), while approaching news from the internet was associated with rumination in Poland (β = 0.616, p = 0.001).Conclusion: The study identified the mediating effect of rumination and the associations of approaching the war-related news from television and the internet with mental health.Keywords: Russo-Ukrainian war, rumination, psychological distress, mediation, time spent on the news of war