Status and predictors of the psychological well-being of mothers of children receiving early childhood intervention following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Marilyn Espe-Sherwindt, Carl J. Dunst, Anna Kukuruza, Noor van Loen, and Ana Maria Serrano
Citation: Espe-Sherwindt, M., Dunst, C. J., Kukuruza, A., van Loen, N., & Serrano, A. M. (2025). Status and predictors of the psychological well-being of mothers of children receiving early childhood intervention following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 9, 7, 1-15.
https://www.nationalwellbeingservice.org/volumes/volume-9-2025/volume-9-article-7
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Processing dates: Submitted 10 January 2025; Resubmitted 11 April 2025; Accepted 15 May 2025; Published 18 September 2025
Copyright:
© Marilyn Espe-Sherwindt, Carl J. Dunst, Anna Kukuruza, Noor van Loen, and Ana Maria Serrano, 2025. Published in the Journal of Ecopsychology by National Wellbeing Services Ltd.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license (CC BY-NC-ND).
Full terms of licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en
BY: credit must be given to the creator.
NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.
Abstract
Background: The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 resulted in millions of Ukrainians being displaced from their homes and communities. The majority were women and most were mothers and their children. Among the negative consequences of displacement is attenuated psychological well-being.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to ascertain (1) the well-being of mothers (81%) of children receiving early childhood intervention before and/or after displacement and (2) the correlates and predictors of variations in positive well-being.
Method: The participants completed a survey that included well-being, social connectedness, family support, family resources, and early childhood intervention measures. Correlational and regression analyses were used to identify the predictors of variations in mothers’ positive well-being.
Results: Results showed that social connectedness with Ukrainian family and friends and satisfaction with early childhood intervention were the best predictors of variations in mothers’ positive well-being and that difficulties and challenges in locating family and child resources in displaced locations were related to attenuated positive well-being.
Conclusion: The results are consistent with systems theories and models that include the tenet that psychological well-being is multiply determined by factors within and outside the family.
Keywords: Ukraine, war, displacement, positive well-being, mothers, social connectedness,
family resources, early childhood intervention
Biographies
Marilyn Espe-Sherwindt is with the European Association on Early Childhood Intervention (Eurlyaid), Westerville, Ohio, USA
Email: mespeshe@kent.edu
Web: https://www.eurlyaid.eu
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2964-0389
Carl J. Dunst is with the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Email: cdunst@puckett.org
Web: http://www.puckett.org
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3857-9869
Anna Kukuruza is with the Institute for Children and Adolescents Health Care, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Email: avkukuruza62@gmail.com
Web: https://www.iozdp.org.ua
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1776-4088
Noor van Loen is with the European Association on Early Childhood Intervention (Eurlyaid), Groningen, The Netherlands
Email: van.loen@eurlyaid.eu
Web: https://www.eurlyaid.eu
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7653-8907
Ana Maria Serrano is with the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
Email: serrano@iec.uminho.pt
Web: https://www.uminho.pt/EN
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6117-4050