Application of Mental Fitness Tools in the Prevention of Stress-Associated Conditions of Female Students of Higher Education Establishments

Abstract

Purpose: to check the effectiveness of the use of mental fitness tools for the prevention of stress-related conditions of female students of higher education establishments. Material & methods: 56 female students, average age 19.5 ± 1.5 years, participated in the study. The main group (MG) included 34 participants who, for 6 months, practiced mental fitness twice a week for 80 minutes. 22 female students who formed the control group (CG) practiced the physical education program of a higher education institution twice a week for 80 minutes during the same period. The following research methods were used: analysis, synthesis, generalization, pedagogical experiment, survey, modelling, statistical analysis using correlation analysis, comparative analysis, effect assessment method, non-linear assessment methods, model quality assessment methods.

Results: the positive experience of implementing mental fitness programs into the practice of physical activity of higher education students is summarized. It was established that 71.4% of female students complain of mood swings, 60.7% – of anxiety, and 39.3% – of depressive states. After the study, 71.4% of female students indicated that their mood improved, 67.9% reported an improvement in physical condition, and 57.1% focused on reducing stress levels. It has been proven that there are statistically significant (p<0.05) correlations between the manifestations and indicators of stress-related conditions of students, the largest of which was recorded between the signs of PTSD and the indicators that determine stress-related conditions. Depending on the mental fitness classes, after the study there was a statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction in PTSD symptoms, improvement in mood and well-being compared to CG students. After the study, the prevent post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) risk score for CG students was higher by 1.64 standard deviations compared to MG students. A statistically significant (p<005) logistic binary model was developed, improved and scientifically substantiated, which, based on data on well-being, allows predicting whether a student is engaged in mental fitness. It has been proven that despite its lower predictive ability compared to other developed models, it has such advantages as statistically significant coefficients (p < 0.05), the ability to predict whether a student is engaged in mental fitness with 88.2% accuracy using only data on well-being, retention high prognostic ability with a significant simplification of the model. This shows that the developed model is the best choice for practical application. Conclusions: it is advisable to introduce mental fitness tools into the practice of health-recreational motor activity of female students in order to improve mood, work capacity and well-being, and, as a result, PTSD.