The war in Ukraine has forced many young people to leave their homes and rebuild their lives in new countries. Experiences of war, flight and forced migration can expose young people to a variety of stresses that can affect their psychosocial development and well-being.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) refer to stressful experiences in childhood and adolescence that are associated with an increased risk of mental and physical health problems later in life. However, existing ACE instruments have not been developed specifically for the context of crisis migration (e.g. migration as a result of war, violence or other acute crises) and may therefore not adequately capture migration- and war-specific stress. In addition, there are hardly any empirical findings on the psychosocial adaptation of Ukrainian adolescent refugees who have arrived in Switzerland since the beginning of the invasion in 2022.

Against this background, the project aims at a context-specific recording of stressful experiences and a differentiated analysis of their psychosocial adaptation in Switzerland.

The study therefore pursues three central objectives:

(a) to systematically review and further develop existing ACE measurement instruments,
b) to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed instrument, and
c) to use this instrument to analyze crisis migration-related stressful experiences and the psychosocial adjustment of Ukrainian adolescent refugees in Switzerland.

Methodological approach:

The study follows a two-phase research design:

a) Phase 1 - Qualitative survey: by means of focus groups with Ukrainian adolescent refugees, their parents as well as professionals, crisis-specific stressful experiences are identified and existing items are adapted and further developed accordingly.

b) Phase 2 - Quantitative survey: The resulting instrument will be tested and validated in an online survey with around 300 adolescent refugees from Ukraine aged 16 to 20. In addition, various aspects of their psychosocial adjustment will be recorded.

Expected significance and benefits: By developing a validated ACE instrument for young people who have migrated in crisis, the project is making an important contribution to understanding psychosocial adjustment processes in crisis contexts. The study also provides the first empirical findings on the situation of Ukrainian adolescent refugees in Switzerland.

Projektlaufzeit: 01.12.2025-31.07.2027