Posttraumatic growth, resiliency, and basic hope in soldiers fighting in Eastern Ukraine

In 2014, the Eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk became a scene of military operations that continue until now. Data from 58 soldiers who have taken part in the Ukrainian conflict were analyzed in order to answer the following question: How do basic hope and various aspects of resiliency explain the intensity of different aspects of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in soldiers fighting in the East of Ukraine? Four stepwise regression analyses were conducted. In each of them one of particular aspects of PTG was the dependent variable, whereas the group of predictors consisted of basic hope and three aspects of resiliency. It turned out that Personal strength as well as Appreciation of life were positively related to Openness to new experiences and a sense of humor. Relating to others was strongly related to Basic hope. Finally, Spiritual change depended on Basic hope as well as Persistence and determination in action. Because of the small sample size, the results should be treated with caution. However, they seem to encourage further research concerning this group.