Stress level among Ukrainian children significantly increased over past year – survey
Thirty-seven percent of Ukrainian children report significant (high or elevated) levels of stress, compared to just 27% in the fall of 2024, according to a social survey conducted by Rating Group from October 3-7.
"The rise in stress in adolescents is accompanied by certain (often negative) feelings. For one in ten children/teenagers whose stress levels have increased, the primary feeling recently is disappointment. At the same time, children whose stress has decreased since 2024 are more likely to experience joy, calm, and interest. They experience less anxiety, sadness, and disappointment," the study findings state.
In one in five cases, the primary feeling shared by children and parents recently coincides, most often anxiety. Anxiety is also the most common feeling among children with high and elevated stress levels.
Children with trusting relationships with their parents and children, who have a favorite hobby (excluding video games) have significantly better stress resilience. "About 77% of children who communicate relatively frequently with their parents and loved ones about their feelings and experiences have good stress resilience (among those who communicate rarely, this figure is slightly more than half). The stress level of children who communicate frequently with their parents is half as high," the report states.
Children, who frequently engage in hobbies are more likely (68%) to have low or moderate stress levels, compared to less than half of those who devote little time to hobbies. "At the same time, it's worse when a child's sole or primary hobby is spending time on gadgets and video games. According to previous research, the lowest levels of resilience (compared to peers who engage in other hobbies) are found in children whose hobbies include playing games on their phones or computers. Also, "sitting" on the phone isn't a very helpful response to a stressful event: children who immerse themselves in their phones or computers in response to a trigger also have low resilience," the study notes.
Some 57% of children who share a hobby with their parents are well adapted to stress, the same applies to 64% of parents who share a hobby with their children.
Most children, who frequently engage in physical activity, have a high adaptability to stress (almost 60%). Among those who don't exercise or rarely do it, the figure is 38%. "Sport and physical activity are reliable factors in reducing children's stress," the press release notes.
The survey was conducted using the CATI>CAWI method (computer-assisted telephone interviews, online survey). During the first (CATI) stage, parents were contacted, who consented to the online survey. During the second stage, children followed a personalized survey link, after which parents received a personal invitation to complete the online parent survey. A total of 2,531 respondents were interviewed, including 1,572 children aged 10-18 and 959 their parents.