Personal Characteristics of Students who Left the Zone of Military Operations

Abstract

Background. A comparative analysis of the personal characteristics, coping behaviour, and resilience of students who left the line of contact and students living on the territory bordering zone of special military operation is the theoretical basis for the justification of the programme for psychological support for refugees from the combat zone, as well as the population living on the line of fight contact. Objectives. The study aims to compare the personal characteristics of students who left the line of fight contact and students living on the territory bordering the SMO zone Study Participants. First-year students of the Pedagogical Institute of the Belgorod State National Research University (n = 81) aged 18 to 20 years took part in the study. Of these, 40 students left the line of contact and 41 students were living on the territory bordering the SMO zone. Methods. To study the coping strategy of behaviour, we used the test “Overcoming difficult life situations” (by V. Janke and G. Erdmann in the adaptation of N.E. Vodopyanova). R. Kettell's 16-factor personality questionnaire was used to determine personal characteristics. The resilience of the subjects was studied using the resilience test (by S. Muddy in the adaptation of D.A. Leontiev and E.I. Rasskazova). Results. It is proved that students living on the territory bordering on the zone of SMO have a higher level of resilience. Their involvement in the ongoing life events, the desire to actively act, acquire new skills and experience, increase their self-confidence and contribute to the formation of pleasure from their own activities, in contrast to the students who left the fight zone and are more likely to show self-doubt, distrust of the world, anxiety, irritability, a sense of helplessness and unproductive coping strategies. Conclusions. The study identifies distinctive features in the personal qualities, coping behaviour and resilience of students who left the fightline and students living on the territory bordering the SMO zone. Students who left the combat zone are less resilient, more often use unproductive coping strategies, are more intellectual, anxious, irritable and tense, and more often show leadership potential, compared to the students who live in the territory bordering the combat contact line. The results obtained were taken into account when developing the “Resilient Personality” training; they form the basis of the programme for psychological support for refugees from the combat zone, as well as the population living in the territory bordering the SMO zone.

Keywords

• refugees
• fighting
• resilience
• personality
• smo
• coping behaviour
• the line of fight contact