Page 29 - IJSA, Vol. 6, No 2, 2023

International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2023
рrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa

impact of extreme conditions of low-intensity warfare on proximity to the combat zone.
military personnel. It was found that the level of An important feature of the present study is the
resistance of military personnel to combat psychological following:
trauma depends on the impact of extreme conditions - Group 1 was located in an active war zone. During the
(participation in combat operations). There is a high first 600 days of the full-scale war, the duration of alarms
probability of mental disorders, a tendency to personality for Kharkiv region amounted to 99 days and nights, 18
dysfunction, behavioral and activity disorders, even with hours and 11 minutes, and part of the territory was
slight exposure to extreme conditions (lack of combat occupied.
experience). The COVID-19 pandemic has added - Group 2 was under the influence of war stressors at the
extreme conditions to the already existing conditions of time of the survey. However, this proved to be less
low-intensity warfare in our study of the mental health of significant and the territories were not occupied.
military personnel and students. These new conditions - Group 3 included Ukrainian students residing in
made it possible to find out that military personnel with Ukraine with the status of internally displaced persons
combat experience were significantly less likely to suffer and in EU countries with the status of temporary
from anxiety, depression, and stress and sleep disorders protection.
than military personnel without such experience (Melnyk Marchi et al. (2022) studied the problems of refugees and
et al., 2020; Melnyk & Stadnik, 2020). We assumed that migrants in Europe and found that the study participants
the mental health of students in low-intensity war and experienced psychological stress leading to mental health
extreme pandemic conditions would be significantly problems. War-related population movements have a
different from that of trained military personnel. For this negative impact on mental health, which is regularly
reason, we studied only those students who participated confirmed by numerous studies (Ben-Ezra et al., 2023;
in sports. It was found that most students had a moderate Bogic et al., 2015; Bryant et al., 2022; Mesa-Vieira et al.,
level of mental health, about a third had a high level of 2022).
mental health, and less than 10% had a low level of The unprecedented scale of Russian aggression against
mental health (Melnyk et al., 2022). Other researchers Ukraine has caused the largest mass displacement of
have found similar results regarding the positive effects people in modern history (Patel & Erickson, 2022).
of physical activity and sports on the mental health of Studies show that asylum seekers and refugees are
probationers during this period (Klaus et al., 2023; particularly vulnerable to traumatic experiences, which
Senışık et al., 2021). These studies confirm the fact that are of a threefold nature: pre-migration, peri-migration
systematic physical activity has a positive effect on and post-migration. (Chen et al., 2017). According to the
mental health, even under the extreme conditions of a researchers (Michalek et al., 2022), the experience of war
pandemic and/or low-intensity war. The positive role of and displacement can have profound effects on children’s
physical activity on students’ mental health has been affective development and mental health. However, the
demonstrated in numerous studies (Biddle et al., 2019; mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown.
Mahindru et al., 2023; Tyson et al., 2010; White et al., The relevance of certain psychological symptoms
2017), including in the extreme conditions of the (anxiety, depression, insomnia, feeling of poor health)
COVID-19 pandemic (Lee et al., 2021; Lukács, 2021; among civilians during war is widely recognized by
Savage et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020). Carpiniello (2023); Morina et al. (2018).
Studies of student youth in the context of a full-blown Contemporary studies during the Russian-Ukrainian war
war show that the greatest psychogenias are the have shown high prevalence rates of symptoms of
following: risk of death of relatives, family, separation psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia
from relatives, family, lack of work or other source of among Ukrainians aged 18 years and older. In addition,
income, fear of death and risk of loss of property. the scientists emphasize the need for further research and
Associations have also been found between the development of effective survival strategies for
psychological distress and chronic fatigue and sleep Ukrainians during the war (Khraban, 2022; Xu et al.,
disturbances (Stadnik et al., 2022). The relationship 2023).
between the above aspects is bidirectional, as symptoms The real need and problem that was identified in the
can be both a source and a consequence of psychological scientific literature, but not solved in practice,
distress. In addition, the dependence of the psychological determined the choice of the research subject and the
state of the students on their physical proximity to the techniques we used. In research and practice, the PGWBI
combat zone was revealed. The closer students were to and CSI are effective and valid tools.
the combat zone, the greater the negative impact on their The PGWBI is widely used in modern research
mental health (Stadnik et al., 2023). (Gonzales et al., 2023; Maugeria et al., 2020). It also
As an extension of previous research on student mental allows analysis and comparison of the data obtained.
health, this paper focuses on the following understudied Our research has shown that students in Group 1, where
aspect of the problem – analysis of the psychological the constant shelling causes tension, anxiety, and
well-being of university students and their choice of dissatisfaction with daily activities, have the lowest
coping strategies in overcoming life crises in the context scores on the anxiety and well-being scales. At the same
of the war in Ukraine. We took into account our earlier time, the highest rates of general health are observed
data on the effectiveness of the study by dividing the among students of Group 3. This shows that poor mood
entire sample of students into groups based on their and fatigue have minimal impact on learning outcomes.

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