Page 37 - IJSA, Vol. 7, No 1, 2024

International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2024
рrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa

war. It should be noted that the average score of the male to combat psychological trauma depends on the impact
students on the Stress Scale was greater than that of the of extreme conditions (participation in combat
female students in all study groups. operations). Even with a low level of exposure to extreme
Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated for each of conditions (lack of combat experience), there is a high
the three scales of the DASS-21 as an estimate of internal probability of mental disorders, a tendency toward
consistency reliability. Acceptable levels of reliability personality disorders, and behavioural and activity
were found for all scales: Depression scale α=0.712, disorders.
Anxiety scale α=0.783, Stress scale α=0.733. Cronbach’s The COVID-19 pandemic has added extreme conditions
alpha for the total scale was α=0.807. These scores are an to the existing conditions of low-intensity warfare in our
indication of the homogeneity of the items in each study of the mental health of military personnel and
dimension of the scale. students. These new conditions made it possible to
determine that military men with combat experience
Discussion were significantly less likely to suffer from anxiety,
Since the end of the Second World War, Europe has not depression, stress and sleep disorders than military men
seen a war of scale and intensity that is currently taking without such experience (Melnyk et al., 2020; Melnyk &
place in Ukraine. This war has affected the lives of more Stadnik, 2020). We assumed that the mental health of
than 40 million Ukrainians, including hundreds of students in low-intensity wars and under extreme
thousands of students. pandemic conditions would be significantly different
Most students continue their studies at university. Some from the mental health of trained military personnel.
students (a small number, mostly women) have been Therefore, we only looked at students who were involved
forced to become refugees and continue their studies in sports. Most students had a moderate level of mental
remotely in EU countries. It must be borne in mind that health, approximately one-third had a high level of
in the globalised modern world, the effects of a war in mental health, and less than 10.0% had a low level of
one country will inevitably have repercussions in other mental health (Melnyk et al., 2022). Similar findings of
countries. War affects international politics, economics, the positive impact of physical activity and sport on
population migration, health care, etc., to varying respondents’ mental health during this period have been
degrees. reported by other researchers (Lange et al., 2023; Watson
This study is an integral part of a longitudinal study that et al., 2023). These studies confirm that systematic
includes a comprehensive examination of the mental physical activity has a positive effect on mental health,
health of Ukrainian students continuing their studies even in the extreme conditions of a pandemic and/or low-
under extreme conditions: low-intensity war (2014- intensity war. The positive effect of physical activity on
2022), the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), and students’ mental health has been demonstrated in
martial law and full-scale war in Ukraine (from 2022 to numerous studies (Mahindru et al., 2023; Melnyk, 2019;
the present). This study explored stressors that may affect Yao et al., 2023), including under the extreme conditions
the academic performance and well-being of young of the COVID-19 pandemic (Huang et al., 2023; Precht
people in a military environment. Such risk factors et al., 2023).
include mental, emotional and behavioural problems. Studies of student youth in a full-scale war show that the
For a specific study, the dynamics of depression, anxiety greatest psychogenics are: risk of death of relatives,
and stress indicators were examined among students at family separation from relatives, family, lack of work or
state universities in Ukraine who studied in 2022-2024 in other source of income, fear of death and risk of loss of
significantly different regions. The study also included property (Stadnik et al., 2022).
students who continued their studies at a distance in EU There is also a link between psychological distress and
countries. This choice was necessitated by the need to chronic fatigue and sleep problems. This relationship is
study the effects of warfare on students under different bidirectional, as symptoms can be both a source and a
conditions of stress: Group 1 (students living in areas consequence of psychological distress. In addition, the
where there was no hostilities or shelling, dependence of the mental state of the students on the
Transcarpathian region of Ukraine and EU countries, degree of their physical proximity to the combat zone
November 2022); Group 2 (students living in the area of was revealed. The negative impact on students’ mental
active hostilities, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November health increases with proximity to the combat zone
2022); Group 3 (students living in areas where there was (Stadnik et al., 2023). The analysis of the psychological
no hostilities or shelling, Transcarpathian region of well-being of university students and their choice of
Ukraine and EU countries, March 2024); and Group 4 coping strategies to overcome life crises in the context of
(students living in the area of active hostilities, Kharkiv the war in Ukraine shows that the level of negative
region, Ukraine, March 2024). impact was greater the closer the students were to the
Recent scientific publications in the social and zone of active hostilities. University students use
behavioural sciences, as well as the authors’ own different coping strategies in stressful war situations in
experience, allowed us to build the methodological basis Ukraine. However, the coping strategy of cognitive
for our research. restructuring is more commonly used. Coping strategies
Previous studies have examined the effects of extreme of social support and self-criticism are typical for
conditions of low-intensity warfare on military personnel students living in the area of active military operations
(Melnyk et al., 2019). The level of resistance of soldiers (Pypenko et al., 2023).

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