Evaluation of Emotional Disorder Risk in Students with Low Physical Activity Levels Under Stressful Conditions

Abstract

The ongoing hostilities in Ukraine require adjustments to the educational process for higher education students, particularly the implementation of measures to mitigate the effects of emotional disorders through physical activity. Of significant practical interest to researchers is the assessment of emotional disorder risk, characterized by negative reactions among students to crisis situations, including emotional distress such as anxiety and aggression, amid ongoing military operations in Ukraine. This study aimed to identify higher education students at risk of emotional disorders under the influence of stress factors, particularly military actions. Material and methods. The study was run from April 20 to June 20, 2022. The study involved 573 higher education students from different regions of Ukraine. During the period of the study, 78.0% of respondents were in the country, of whom 45.5% had a negative experience of being in the area of active hostilities. The following methods were used: analysis of scientific and methodological literature, sociological methods, methods of physical activity assessment, and mathematical statistics. Results. It was found that the appearance of the signs of emotional disorders did not depend on the actual experience of being in the epicentre of hostilities, however, it was shown that female students were more prone to manifestations of emotional distress compared to male students. The respondents were divided into two clusters. Cluster 1 was formed by 53.4 % of students with emotional disorders, and cluster 2 consisted of 46.6 % of students with increased tolerance to stress factors. Cluster 1 included mostly female students. The outbreak of hostilities was accompanied by the emergence of psychological problems in them, the emergence or increase of bad habits against the background of a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, low levels of physical activity, and less attention to their own health. Furthermore, regardless of the cluster, university students report a deterioration in their physical condition. A classification tree was built, which allows to correctly evaluate the degree of risk of developing emotional disorders with a probability of 85 %. Conclusion. Up-to-date information on students' response to stressful conditions is of great practical importance for the development and implementation of measures aimed at their prevention and correction through physical activity in the educational process of higher education institutions.