Bulletin of National Defence University of Ukraine

The full-scale war in Ukraine has significantly expanded the range of psychological problems that require scientific understanding, among which the study of psychological adaptation of people who lost loved ones as a result of military operations is of particular importance. The death of a family member is one of the most serious traumatic events, which is accompanied not only by the experience of grief, but also by the need for psychological adaptation to radically changed life circumstances. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to reveal the features of the functioning of resilience in the process of psychological adaptation of family members of fallen servicemen to war-related loss and highlight its main structural levels. To achieve this goal, a set of general scientific research methods was used, in particular, theoretical and comparative analysis, systematisation, generalisation, structural analysis, and modelling. The methodological basis of the research was systematic, integrative, and activity-based approaches to the investigation of psychological adaptation of the individual. Generalisation of contemporary Ukrainian and international scientific approaches allowed substantiating the author’s vision of resilience as an integrative psychological resource that provides the process of psychological adaptation to war-related loss, and not only acts as a personal property or the result of successful adaptation. It was determined that the specific feature of the resilience of family members of fallen servicemen is its functioning in the conditions of ongoing war, constant exposure to military threats, a high level of public anxiety, and the mass nature of war-related losses, which forms a specific socio-psychological context of adaptation. A structural organisation of resilience was proposed, which was based on four interrelated levels: cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and social. The functional purpose, psychological mechanisms, and role in the process of psychological adaptation to war-related loss were determined for each level. It was proved that the interaction of these levels provides a holistic process of adaptation, restoration of the viability of the individual, and integration of the experience of loss into the future life path. The practical significance of the results obtained lies in the fact that the proposed concept can be used as a theoretical and methodological basis for developing programmes for psychological support of family members of fallen servicemen, building models of psychological assistance, developing psychodiagnostic tools, and further empirical studies of psychological adaptation to war-related loss

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