Psychophysiological state of students under the war

Abstract

The war in Ukraine has an impact on the psychophysiological state of citizens, whether they are direct participants in the conflict or reside far from the front line. Conside­ring this, studying the psychophysiological state of students continuing their education in a country at war is a relevant issue. Understanding this state can aid in developing effective strategies for preserving the psychological health of youth. The limbic system, which regulates emotions, directly influences the cardiovascular system. Therefore, the research aimed to establish the connection between the frequency of heartbeats (heart rate) during air alarms and mental states (depression, anxiety, stress) of students, as well as components of their emotional intelligence (self-motivation, managing one’s own emotions and the emotions of others, empathy). In the study, 62 second-year students from the Biological Faculty Ivan Franko National University of Lviv participated. Students assessed their psychoemotional state using the «Global Emotional Intelligence Test» and «DASS21» questionnaires. Heart rate (HR) was monitored using smartwatches in combination with corresponding smartphone applications. The average daily heart rate of students was 78.12±0.74 beats/min (n=62), while during air alarms, it increased to 91.21±2.54 beats/min (p≤0.001, n=21). Individuals with additional physical activities showed a tendency toward higher HR during air alarms compared to those who did not engage in exercises. It was found that 50 % of students experienced anxiety, 20 % reported high and extremely high stress levels, and 10 % had a high level of depression. A moderate negative correlation was established between the level of depression and HR during air alarms (r=-0.55, p≤0.05, n=13). A high level of emotional intelligence indicators was observed in the following percentages of students: managing the emotions of others – 27 %, empathy – 24 %, self-motivation – 23 %, managing one’s own emotions – 8 %, and integrative emotional intelligence – 2 %. Positive correlations of mo­derate strength (p≤0.05) were identified between HR during air alarms and the psychological and emotional states of students: r=0.51 (n=11) with anxiety, r=0.59 (n=13) with the level of integrative emotional intelligence, r=0.62 (n=13) with self-motivation, and r=0.63 (n=13) with managing the emotions of others. Therefore, war has an impact on the psychophysiological state of students, resul­ting in an increased level of anxiety. This is evident in the rise of heart rate (HR) during air alarms, which is considered a normal response of the body to a stress factor. However, the more depressive a person is, the lower the HR during air alarms. Thus, there is a correlation between HR during air alarms and psychophysiological state of students.