The Role of Personality Characteristics and Social Activity in the Academic Adaptation of University Students with Chronic Diseases

Abstract

The study of personal and behavioral factors of academic adaptation of students with chronic diseases is necessary for the development of a strategy for the socio-psychological and psychological-pedagogical support of such individuals at the university. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of personality characteristics and social activity in the academic adaptation of conditionally healthy students and students with chronic diseases. The study involved 419 undergraduate university students aged 17–26 years, average age M=19,6, SD=2,8 (men 18,4%), 34,8% of them have chronic diseases (visual system, combined disorders, disorders of the musculoskeletal system, emotional and volitional disorders, etc.). The samples were balanced by gender, age, and academic level. The following questionnaires were used: 5PFQ by R. McCrae and P. Costa in the adaptation of A.B. Khromov (2000), the Scale of academic adaptation (R.M. Shamionov et al., 2020), the Scale of commitment to various forms of social activity (Shamionov R.M. et al., 2018). It was found that students with chronic diseases are characterized by a weaker expression of extraversion and a stronger emotional instability. The relationship between the components of academic adaptation and personality traits attachment–isolation, self- control–impulsivity, emotional stability–instability is universal regardless of the state of health. Socio-political and Internet search activities are associated with the adaptation of students with chronic diseases. Emotional stability–instability is a moderator of the directed connection of age and chronic diseases with academic adaptation, weakening the direct causal relationship. The obtained data allow us to outline the ways of socio- psychological and psychological-pedagogical support of students with chronic diseases at the university.