Post-traumatic stress disorder among elite athletes affected by war

Abstract

Introduction. Current research on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict explores various aspects of psychological distr ess among affected individuals. However, there is a lack of information regarding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Ukrainian athletes affected by the conflict. Objective: In this study we aimed to investigate the prevalence of PTSD among Ukrainian athletes affected by the ongoing war. Materials and methods: A total of 163 Ukrainians with varying degrees of exposure to the war participated in the study. Among them, 109 (67%) were non-athletes, while 54 (33%) were athletes. Non-athletes were individuals who remained in Ukraine after the onset of the conflict. Athletes with many having traveled for competitions and subsequently returned to Ukraine. This study used the primary care PTSD screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5). According to this method, the main scales are: anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Additional stress disorder scales were used as a supplement to the main questionnaire. Results The results show the prevalence of PTSD in the general sample compared to the general population. 54.4% persons reported PTSD. Non-athletes felt more in danger and threatened than athletes. We hypothesize that stress resistance in athletes supports the ability to reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress. The results of clinical symptoms was obtained that athletes avoid negative memories associated with military situations compared to non-athletes. This demonstrates that athletes are very busy with the training process. Non-athletes lack this tendency. In conclusion, we argue that the consequences of PTSD in athletes are lower than in non-athletes, and this may be an opportunity to prevent PTSD through sport. Conclusions The obtained studies show a connection between the war situation and the development of posttraumatic stress syndrome in people. A higher level of stress resistance in athletes has been established. This manifests itself in resistance to traumatic stress.