FEATURES OF STRESS RESISTANCE AND COPING STRATEGIES OF PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to highlight the peculiarities of the development of stress resistance and coping strategies in students studying at higher education institutions. Stress resistance is defined as a structural-functional, dynamic, integrative property of a personality that is determined by a number of personal characteristics, and in the case of interaction with a stressor, includes the process of self-regulation, cognitive representation, objective characterization of the situation, thus providing the ability to withstand significant mental, physical, volitional and emotional stress while maintaining performance. The student years are considered to be one of the most critical periods in a person's life, as they are filled with personal aspirations, actively enriched with social values and social contacts, accompanied by an active search for oneself and initial mastery of the profession, during which stressful situations and experiences occur. Successful educational and professional activity and personal development of a student depends on the ability to cope with life's difficulties, which depends on the level of stress resistance and the specifics of the choice of coping strategies. The results of the study showed that psychology students of the first master's level of education mostly had a high level of stress resistance and were inclined to use a variety of coping strategies, among which the greatest importance was given to self-control, recognition of own responsibility and planning for problem solving, and the desire to receive social support. Such coping strategies as "escape-avoidance" and "confrontation" did not receive much attention among university psychology students. Thus, this testified to the readiness of psychology students for independent practice in the chosen field.