Hardiness and psychological resources of family members of SMO participants

Context and relevance. Family members of SMO participants find themselves in a difficult situation, placing increased demands on their resilience. Objective: to study the parameters of resilience, the resources used, and the coping strategies of family members of SMO participants. Hypothesis. Low levels of resilience and its individual components are characteristic of relatives of SMO participants who died or who lost contact, while high levels of resilience and its individual components are characteristic of relatives of SMO participants located in the SMO zone. Methods and materials. Fifty-four relatives of SMO participants participated in the study. 44,4% of respondents are spouses/partners of a SMO participant, children make up 18,5%, parents — 14,8%, brothers/sisters — 5,6%, and distant relatives — 16,7%. Hardiness, losses and gains, stress coping strategies, and dominant state were assessed using a battery of questionnaires: the Maddi Hardiness Test, the Personal Resource Losses and Gains Questionnaire, the Stress Coping Strategies Indicator Questionnaire, the Dominant State Test Questionnaire, and the authors’ questionnaire. Results. The average value of the hardiness indicator for the sample was M = 71,5 ± 18,5. The average values ​​of the involvement indicators were M = 30,6 ± 9, control — M = 26,8 ± 6,14, and risk acceptance — M = 14,1 ± 4,55. According to the results of the comparative analysis (Student’s t-test), no statistically significant differences were found between the group of respondents whose relatives are in the SMO zone and the group of respondents whose relatives died during service in the SMO, in terms of hardiness, losses and gains, dominant state, and predominant coping strategy. Conclusion. The relationships between resilience and its components and the severity of coping strategies, the relationship between resilience and emotional stability, and the resources most characteristic of the sample were identified. Further identification of the factors that influence resilience and the dominant state of the close participants in the SMO is required.

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