Motor activity of students of higher educational institutions as a means of overcoming stress

Abstract

In recent years, applicants for higher education have been under increased stress factors. It is known that health-improving and recreational motor activity classes contribute to overcoming stress among students of higher educational institutions. This situation exacerbates the issues of purposeful use of means of health-improving and recreational motor activity in the student environment as a means of dealing with stress and requires determining the influence of physical activity on the level of stress among students. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the use of means of health-improving and recreational physical activity to overcome the stress of Ukrainian applicants for higher education in the conditions of armed confrontation in the country. The second wave of the study, which lasted from October 13 to December 30, 2022, involved 610 higher education applicants from different regions of Ukraine. It has been established that a significant part of applicants for higher education for the period of the survey was under the increased influence of stress factors, which was aggravated by a decrease in their motor activity. It turned out that physiological signs of stress predominate in students statistically significantly (p<0.05) compared to intellectual, behavioral and emotional signs. It was found that only 12.5% of students of the ZVO did not have signs of stress, 62.8% of them with moderate and severe stress levels need corrective measures using the means of health-improving and recreational motor activity aimed at adapting to stressful effects and overcoming stress, and 24.7% need the help of psychologists. The findings suggest that stress is rampant among higher education applicants. It was confirmed that the manifestation of stress in female students is statistically significant (p<0.05) more intense than in female students. It has been proven that there is a statistically significant (p<0.05) correlation between the occupations of applicants for higher education by health-improving and recreational physical activity and the need for measures to counteract stress. However, now students of higher educational institutions do not fully use the potential of means of health-improving and recreational motor activity, which indicates the need for their purposeful use to prevent and correct stress-associated conditions of higher education applicants.