Support Groups in the Metaverse for Ukrainian Refugees

Depressive symptomatology will be assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-Severity Measure for Depression, 9 item questionnaire. Participants assign ratings on a scale of 0 to 3 based on how often they experienced specific items in the preceding 2-week timeframe (0- not at all; 3 - nearly every day). The scores indicate the severity of depression, ranging from minimal depression (1-4) to mild, moderate, moderately severe, or severe depression (20-27).

Anxiety symptomatology will be assessed with the help of General Anxiety Disorder -7 - Severity Measure for Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 item questionnaire.

The measure is a 7-question self-reported instrument designed to correspond to some of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Fifth Edition diagnostic criteria for GAD. Participants assign ratings on a scale of 0 to 3 based on how often they experienced specific items in the preceding 2-week timeframe (0 - not at all; 3 - nearly every day). The total score for the seven items ranges from 0 to 21(minimal anxiety, to mild, moderate and severe).

The World Health Organization - Five Well-Being Index is used to assess the well-being of participants. The measure is a 5-item instrument consisting of statements that respondents rate on a 6-point Likert scale (0 - at no time; 5 - all of the time). The statements are rated in relation to the past two weeks. The raw scores range from 0 to 25 and are multiplied by 100 to give the final score which ranges from 0 (the worst well-being) to 100 (the best well-being).

Gender-based violence awareness will be assessed through five general knowledge questions about GBV. Participants will be asked to indicate the correct answer from a list of statements. Each correct answer receives one point. The total score ranges from 0 (no GBV awareness at all) to 5 (aware of GBV). The questions were developed in collaboration with an NGO focused on gender-based violence promotion among Ukrainian refugees.

The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support is used to assess the Perceived Social Support. The questionnaire is a 12-item self-report instrument with items measured on a 7-point Likert scale (0 - very strongly disagree; 7 - very strongly agree). Participants are asked to indicate their preference for each statement provided in the measure. The statements refer to 3 subdomains - Significant Other, Family, and Friends and the scores can be calculated both for each subscale and as a total. Total scores range from 12 to 84. Scores ranging from 12 to 35 represent low perceived social support, 36 to 60 represent medium perceived social support, and 61 to 84 represent high perceived social support.