<i>Place cure</i> or <i>place curse</i> ? Place attachment and well‐being after forced displacement

Refugees are often forced to leave their homes and rebuild their lives in unfamiliar environments. Adapting to a new place can be challenging, as it involves coping with the loss of familiar surroundings while navigating new ones. Emotional bonds with places-known as place attachment-may play an important role in this adaptation process, serving both as a protective factor and a potential burden. We examined these dynamics in a study among Ukrainian refugees in Poland (N = 1,016) following the full-scale Russian invasion. We measured attachment to participants' hometowns in Ukraine and their current towns of residence in Poland, as well as life satisfaction, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and post-traumatic growth (PTG). Stronger attachment to one's hometown in Ukraine was associated with higher PTSD symptoms and lower life satisfaction. In contrast, attachment to a new town of residence in Poland was positively linked to life satisfaction and PTG. Attachment to the former hometown was negatively related to attachment to a new place in Poland. However, the more similar the two locations were perceived to be, the stronger the attachment to the new town. These findings suggest that place attachment can act as both a resource and a risk factor, depending on how migrants navigate continuity between past and present places.