EDUCATIONAL STRESS AS A FACTOR OF THE RISK OF FORMATION OF ADDITIVE BEHAVIOR, ALERT AND DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS IN FOREIGN MEDICAL STUDENTS
Background. Students receiving their education abroad experience problems associated with adaptation to the values of local culture. Moreover, very often a large educational load and stress lead to the formation of depression disorders and maladaptation. The aim of the study. To study some features of adaptation of non-Russian-speaking foreign students during their first three years of study at a medical institute in Russia and to develop recommendations for increasing stress resistance and primary prevention. Materials and methods. We examined 166 medical students (137 men and 29 women) of 1-3 years of study at the age of 17-29 (20.8±1.8). All students came to Russia from India and the Middle East countries. They do not speak Russian and are taught in English. We used medical-sociological, psychometric and statistical methods. Results. More than a half of the students have problems with adaptation. The most significant of them are the language barrier, unusual food and climate conditions, a large educational load, a life away from parents, difficulties in organizing the schedule. About 44% of first-year students have low spirits and suicidal thoughts. Most first-year students (77%) and second-year students (89%) sleep less than 7 hours a day because of their studies. All students do not eat enough. The meals are taken 1-2 times a day by 67.8% of the first-year students, 37.8% by the second-year students and 29.7% by the third-year students. Only a half of the first-year students, 20% of the second-year students and 16.2% of the third-year students take hot meals once a day. Sociophobia symptoms are revealed in 45.2% of the first year-students, 32.3% of the second-year students, and 18.9% of the third-year students. Depression was registered in 31% of the first year-students, 17.8% of the second-year students and 10.8% of the third-year students. A half of the first-year students, 35.6% of the second year-students, and 35.1% of the third-year students have a high level of anxiety. From 10.8% to 29.8% of students constantly experienced stress. From 19% to 43.2% of students use alcohol to deal with stress. The other 20-35% of students smoke tobacco for the same purpose. More than a half of students take sedatives. Such ways of overcoming stress create the risk of forming addictive behavior. Conclusion. It is advisable to introduce training seminars on "Time Management" and "Stress Management" to the educational process. This will increase the level of adaptive abilities of students and prevent the development of psychosomatic disorders.
Ruzhenkova VV. Educational stress as a factor of the risk of formation of additive behavior, alert and depressive disorders in foreign medical students. Research Result. Medicine and Pharmacy. 2018;4(2):55-68 (In Russian). DOI: 10.18413/2313-8955-2018-4-2-0-6
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