Since the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health has become one of the leading areas of sociological research. Researchers have been closely observing societies subjected to stress.
Following the end of the pandemic, the war broke out in our region, as Russia invaded Ukraine. The war has resulted in a decline in social security, the emergence of “Putinflation” and an unprecedented refugee crisis not seen since the end of the Second World War. Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary share a border with Ukraine, where military operations are taking place. The Czech Republic, similarly to the other V4 countries, has received a large group of Ukrainian war refugees. The influx of refugees may lead to competition for resources and act as a stressor, especially for individuals of lower social status. Taking advantage of the natural experiment provided by the war’s impact on individual psychological well-being, we aim to examine whether macrostressors resulting from the war affect the mental health of residents in the V4 countries. Based on the conducted research, which measures mental health disorders using the following scales: K-10 (psychological distress), GAD-7 (anxiety), and PHQ-9 (depression), we will be able to accurately assess the scale of mental health disorders in the studied population. We will also be able to determine whether the results reveal similarities or significant differences when considering the country of residence and its socio-cultural context. Moreover, analyses will be carried out in each of the surveyed countries in order to identify risk factors for mental health disorders among their residents.