Wednesday, September 17, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. - Plus Pre- and Post-Meeting Assignments 

Maximum: 8 Participants  

Deadline: July 30, 2025  

Paper in a Day (PIAD) grew out of a desire to foster collaborations between early career researchers from around the world. Many of these researchers will be future leaders in the domain of posttraumatic mental health and the field will benefit from their partnerships and teamwork. PIAD was developed to stimulate international connections and the exchange of ideas by working on a tangible outcome: A paper, short communication, or commentary for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. This will be an intensive, productive, and enjoyable day. The aim of the exercise, firstly, is to stimulate international collaboration and exchange among early career researchers, and, secondly, to develop a paper that will be submitted for publication. Previous workshops have led to journal articles, conference contributions, and lasting collaborations. Because PIAD activities will begin prior to the ISTSS annual meeting, participants will have the opportunity to continue developing relationships and ideas for further collaboration during the Annual Meeting. 

The 2025 PIAD team will work on the project described below. 

Title: The Role of Continuous Traumatic Stress in the Mental Health of War-Affected Individuals in Ukraine 

Project Co-Leaders: Iryna Frankova, MD, PhD & Kathryn Macia, PhD

Exposure to repeated current and anticipated threats during armed conflicts can result in a wide range of emotional and behavioral reactions. The use of post-traumatic stress disorder screening tools may not fully capture the complexity of symptoms arising from continuous traumatic stress (Frankova et al., 2025). 

During this PAID workshop we will use the longitudinal study dataset, that examines populations in Ukraine affected by the war. Over a span of three years following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine (2023-2025), we conducted assessments at two time points: during the 2023 and 2024, and again in the 2024 and 2025. A total of 674 participants, including both civilians and veterans, participated in the first wave of an online survey. This survey includes measures for continuous traumatic stress response, coping efficacy, PTSD, depression, generalized anxiety, insomnia, moral injury (specifically for veterans), and overall well-being. 

This study aims to investigate the extent to which the severity of common mental health problems is associated with continuous traumatic stress in individuals affected by the war in Ukraine, and whether this relationship is moderated by coping efficacy. Additionally, we will examine the impact of moral injury on well-being and coping efficacy among veterans. 

Questions about the content of the project can be addressed to Dr. Iryna Frankova (i.frankova@vu.nl). 

Program 

Prior to the PIAD workshop, an online meeting will be held with the project leaders and participants to outline the project, discuss each participant’s role in the project, and divide tasks. Thereafter, participants will individually prepare for the workshop (e.g., read relevant articles, draft sections of the paper, join subgroup meetings). The PIAD workshop will include plenary discussions, writing time in subgroups, dataset preparation, etc. Following the workshop, participants will finalize the draft and submit to a peer-reviewed journal.

Commitment 

To make the workshop a success, we ask participants to commit to: 

1. Online meetings and preparations in advance of the meeting – dedicate approximately 8 hours prior to the workshop.
2. Be present for the entire PIAD workshop, to be scheduled before the ISTSS Annual Meeting.
3. Contribute to the final editing and preparation for paper submission after the workshop.
4. Continue to work with the team towards publishing the paper, including support through any revisions.

 How to Participate 

This event is aimed at early career researchers defined as current doctoral students or researchers who have obtained their PhD less than 5 years ago. If you would like to participate, please apply by July 30, 2025.