Stress within local community on the Polish-Belarusian border – a case study of the town of Włodawa, Poland

Abstract Since mid-2021, the European Union’s border with Belarus has become a place of increased migration attempts. However, the specificity of the migration crisis on the border between the European Union and Belarus lies in the fact that it was artificially triggered by the Belarusian authorities in the early summer of 2021 in response to the sanctions imposed on Belarus by the EU earlier in that year. This situation means that local communities living near the border may feel especially threatened and experience inconvenience due the implementation of a state of emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic constituted an additional stress factor. Hence, the aim of the study was to analyse the level of stress among residents of the town of Włodawa caused by the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border and by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in the period of 01 January 2022–21 February 2022 using a survey method, with paper questionnaires. A short questionnaire with a high level of standardization was used, which consisted of nine closed questions, including three scalograms (one covering ten questions concerning the sources of experienced anxiety, another one, also a 10-item PSS-10 (Perceived Stress Scale) test, and the third one concerning the assessment of events on the Polish-Belarusian border). During the period of the study, the inhabitants of Włodawa were subjected to double stress: related to COVID-19 and resulting from the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. The conducted research shows that the stress was of medium intensity, and was higher among women, the elderly and the poorly educated. Among the concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the exogeneous ones dominated, such as difficulties in accessing health services and the media coverage. As regards the events on the Polish-Belarusian border, respondents most often negatively perceived the arrival of large groups of migrants and the activities of Belarusian border services. Contrary to predictions, there were no synergic effects of anger at the authorities due to the imposition of restrictions (related to both COVID-19 and the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border).