A digital self-guided single-session intervention showed significant mental health improvements among Polish youth and moderate improvements among Ukrainian youth, with high acceptability ratings across both groups, suggesting SSIs hold potential as a scalable option for mental health care for youth in crisis-affected regions.
Completion rates differed substantially between Polish and Ukrainian youth participants.
Polish youth showed significant improvements across multiple mental health indicators following the single-session intervention.
Ukrainian youth showed more limited mental health improvements compared to Polish youth, with only moderate improvements in perceived control.
Acceptability ratings for the culturally adapted single-session intervention were high across both Polish and Ukrainian youth.
A rapid cultural adaptation process was used to translate and adapt an existing single-session intervention for Polish and Ukrainian youth populations.
The study was framed as an open pilot trial assessing acceptability, feasibility, and short-term effects rather than a randomized controlled trial.
This research suggests that a brief, digital mental health program delivered in a single session can be feasible and acceptable for Polish and Ukrainian youth, including Ukrainian refugees living in Poland. The program was adapted and translated into Polish and Ukrainian, then tested with over 300 young people aged 10 to 18 during early 2024. Among Polish youth, the program was associated with meaningful improvements in feelings of hopelessness, self-hatred, sense of control, and sense of agency. Among Ukrainian youth, there were only modest improvements in sense of control, with limited changes in other mental health measures. Both groups rated the program as highly acceptable. The differences in outcomes between the two groups are notable. Ukrainian youth — many of whom may be displaced due to the ongoing war — showed fewer benefits, which the researchers suggest may indicate that this type of intervention needs additional tailoring for people experiencing active displacement and trauma. The lower completion rate among Ukrainian youth (about 63%) compared to Polish youth (about 81%) also points to potential barriers worth addressing in future work. This research suggests that single-session digital mental health interventions could be a practical, scalable tool for reaching large numbers of young people in regions where traditional mental health care is limited or overwhelmed. However, the results also highlight that one-size-fits-all approaches may not work equally well for all groups, and that youth facing acute crises like war and displacement may need more specialized support or a differently adapted version of such programs.
Sotomayor I, Morska L, Fox C, Mamcarz P, Zapata J, Domagala-Zyśk E, et al.. (2026). Rapid cultural adaptations for scalable dissemination of a single-session intervention among Polish and Ukrainian youth: An open pilot trial.. Applied psychology. Health and well-being. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.70099