Abstract
Introduction. This paper demonstrates the importance of studying adaptive potential in students during a pandemic and its parameters as a basis for mental health and psychological well-being. The authors describe the structure and key parameters of adaptive potential in their relation to hardiness. This study aimed to investigate associations of psychological flexibility as a predictor of adaptability with other manifestations of adaptation mechanisms. This paper brings new insights into the dynamics of adaptability at different stages of adolescence. Methods. The study sample comprised 67 students aged 18 to 24 years (Mean ± SD = 20.7 ± 1.8). Diagnostic instruments: (a) the Hardiness Survey by S. Muddy, (b) Young Schema Questionnaire, YSQ-S3R, (c) Ways of Coping Questionnaire, WCQ, by R. Lazarus, and (d) Clinical Questionnaire for Detection and Evaluation of Neurotic States by K. K. Yakhin and D. M. Mendelevich. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27 software. Methods of mathematical statistics: Pearson’s correlation coefficient, parametric Student’s t-test, and Mann–Whitney U-test for independent samples. Results and Discussion. Correlation analysis showed the existence of strong inverse correlations of hardiness with maladaptive schemas, including ‘vulnerability’, ‘distrust’, ‘submission’, ‘failure’, ‘rigid standards’, ‘dependence/helplessness’, and ‘defectiveness’, as well as neurotic states and coping strategies. Therefore, the authors identified two contradictory trends in adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic in different age groups. The scales of early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and coping strategies have numerous positive correlations, except for the ‘decision planning’ strategy, which correlates negatively with certain schemas. The authors consider EMS as a manifestation of psychological rigidity, which reduces adaptive potential. The absence of pronounced maladaptive schemas increases adaptive potential. There is a positive age-related dynamics in the development of individual adaptation capabilities. The resistance indicator increases and the EMS manifestation decreases with age.
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