Yaryna Andrushko, a clinical psychologist in her native Ukraine, was displaced by war in her home country in October 2022. Having never been on a plane before and despite not knowing anyone in town, she moved sight-unseen to State College. Since that time, she has worked as a visiting scholar in the Penn State Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center (PRC) where she studies resilience.
Recently, Andrushko collaborated with Stephanie Lanza, professor of biobehavioral health and Edna P. Bennett Faculty Fellow in Prevention Research at Penn State, to understand what contributes to building - or failing to build - resilience among people who were displaced to the U.S. from Ukraine due to the war.
Their study, recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, demonstrated that community engagement and support are the most important factors for building resilience and a healthy life among forced migrants.
