Emotional and Behavioural Reactions of High School Students with Special Educational Needs (Hearing Impairments) under Stress

Abstract

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the constant stress in which Ukrainians live today. The paper also considers this issue from the standpoint of the period of collective stress, which depends not only on the individual’s own tendency to anxiety or neurotic reactions, but also on the social environment. The study is also relevant because it reveals the main ways of helping a psychologist in such situations: the process of support, the development of positive thinking, which will be combined and directed to constructive reflection. The problem of collective or personal stress is the consequences that lead to panic attacks, emotional burnout, neuroticism, and other neurological complications, in particular, in young people (high school age, adolescence), when the psyche undergoes constant changes, is prone to suggestion and does not yet have clear guidelines for life movement. In such conditions of stress, two ways of personal transformation are possible – destructive and constructive. Therefore, the purpose of the study is a praxeological investigation of the emotional and behavioural reactions of high school students with special educational needs, identifying the state of anxiety and stress levels that affect their regulative sphere in general. The following theoretical approaches were used: deductive (axiomatic, hypothetical and deductive) – for a systematic description of the phenomenon under study; inductive (to establish patterns, systematisation, typology based on the results of empirical research), and special empirical: psychological diagnostics of stress level “Test to determine the level of stress” (V. Shcherbatykh), “Methods of perceptual assessment of the type of stress resistance” (N. Fetiskin), “Methods for detecting personal and situational anxiety” (C. Spielberg); methods mathematical statistics. As a result of the survey, a relatively similar but rather high level of stress and anxiety was found in high school students with special educational needs. In addition, it is determined that the prevailing beliefs and behavioural strategies that do not allow adapting to new living conditions are dominated by negative information selection and globalisation of the smallest problems. The main manifestations of stress are identified, such as: depressive states, post-traumatic stress disorders, neurotic states, fears, and many other post-stress reactions of the psyche and body. The indicators of anxiety, stress tolerance, and general stress level showed high correlations, which indicates a low level of resistance of the growing personality in conditions of uncertainty, changes, personal and social crises. It was found out that now the main task of psychologists is correctional and explanatory, therapeutic, correctional work with children with special educational needs, especially during age-related crises.