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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1446724

The Ukrainian Version of the Perceived Injustice Questionnaire (PIQ) - A Psychometric Evaluation

Provisionally accepted
Anna Weigelt Anna Weigelt *Jan Ilhan Kizilhan Jan Ilhan Kizilhan *
  • Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Perceived injustice is increasingly recognized as a key factor influencing mental health in war survivors. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Ukrainian translation of the Perceived Injustice Questionnaire (PIQ) among individuals directly exposed to the war in Ukraine. Methods: 170 war-exposed Ukrainians completed the Ukrainian PIQ and measures of post-traumatic tress disorder (PCL-5), depression (PHQ-9), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7), and potentially traumatic life events (LEC-5). Internal consistency, factor structure, and criterion validity were assessed. Results: While the factor structure of the English version could not be reproduced, indicating an issue with factor validity in the Ukrainian version, the Ukrainian PIQ demonstrated strong correlations with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (r = .71, p < .01), moderate associations with depression (r = .62, p < .01) and generalized anxiety disorder (r = .61, p < .01), and a weaker link with potentially traumatic life events (PTLEs, r = .35, p < .01). It significantly predicted PTSD, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms beyond PTLE exposure, explaining 33% of variance in depression, 31% in GAD, and 45% in PTSD These findings provide evidence supporting the construct validity of the PIQ in terms of its relationships with mental health outcomes. The Ukrainian PIQ also demonstrated excellent overall reliability (α = .90), with factor reliabilities ranging from α = .74 to α = .81. Conclusions: The Ukrainian version of the PIQ demonstrates promising psychometric properties and emerges as a highly significant correlate of mental health outcomes. This underscores its potential utility in clinical practice for assessing the treatment needs of Ukrainians affected by the consequences of war. Moreover, the findings highlight the importance of developing therapy modules specifically tailored to address perceived injustice. Further research is warranted to investigate the cross-cultural adaptability and comparability of the PIQ.

    Keywords: Injustice, Trauma, War, PTSD, Psychotherapy, trauma therapy (Min.5-Max. 8)

    Received: 10 Jun 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Weigelt and Kizilhan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Anna Weigelt, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
    Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.