Dynamics of psychophysiological indicators of Ukrainian higher education students in conditions of wartime

Abstract

Byshevets N.G., Golovanova N.L. Dynamics of Psychophysiological Indicators of Ukrainian Higher Education Students in Conditions of Wartime. In the conditions of the military conflict in Ukraine, domestic higher education students experience a significantly higher level of stress than their peers in other countries. It is possible to improve psychophysiological indicators and prevent stressful conditions in higher education students with the help of such as health-improving motor activity. For the development of such measures, it is important to study changes in the psychophysiological indicators of Ukrainian higher education students. Goal. To conduct an analysis of changes in psychophysiological indicators of Ukrainian higher education graduates under martial law. Methods. Analysis of scientific literature, survey, statistical analysis. The research took place in three waves from 04/20/22 to 12/19/23. 1901 students of Ukrainian higher education institutions took part in it. The result. It was established that in the conditions of hostilities on the territory of the country, the psychophysiological indicators of domestic students of higher educational institutions generally remain at sufficient (activity, appetite and work capacity) and average (well-being, sleep, mood) levels. However, with the exception of sleep, the studied indicators of female higher education students were statistically significantly lower than those of male higher education students (p<0.05). At various stages of the research, the overall assessment of the psychophysiological indicators of male students exceeded the assessment of female students by 5 to 10.5%. Consequently, female students are more sensitive to the stress associated with martial law. Despite the fact that the appetite did not change, the psychophysiological indicators of the higher education students improved statistically significantly (p<0.05) in the second stage of the study compared to the first. After that, a tendency to their decrease was observed. This is explained both by the theory of the deployment of stress according to H. Selye, and by changes in the arena of hostilities. Conclusions. Students of higher education in Ukraine need psychological and pedagogical support. The use of means of health and recreational motor activity allows to improve the psychophysiological indicators of students and counteract stress in the conditions of martial law. Therefore, specialists in physical education and sports need to focus on the development of measures to counteract the stress associated with the martial law in the country, which are based on the means of health and recreational motor activity.