Studying the Relationship between Adaptation and Mental State in Learning Activity of First-Year Students

Introduction. The study is devoted to the relationship between adaptation and mental state in the learning activity process of first-year students. The functionality of students’ mental state is of great importance in effective university learning. However, this issue remains unexplored in the science field. Therefore, it justifies the relevance of our study. Data on mental state functionality, level of adaptation, and relationship between them in first-year students can be applied to arrange optimal class holding forms. The implementation of such forms implies that students can more actively participate in the classes, as well as better preserve and applicate obtained information.

Purpose. In our work, we will investigate the relationship between university and aspects of the psychoemotional state in first-year students.

Materials and Methods. First-year students (n = 31), male (n = 5), and female (n = 26), were the empirical object of the study. For the adaptation measurement, we used the “Students’ Adaptability at University” method (T. D. Dubovitskaya and A. V. Krylova) and the “Well-being, Activity, Mood” (WAM) questionnaire (Doskin et all.) for mental state assessment. The testing was carried out every day for the week, at the beginning, and at the end of the class.

Results. We found the relationship between adaptability to the group and the students’ well-being, activity, and mood. The same relationship is not observed with adaptability to the learning activity.

Discussion and Conclusion. Students’ well-being, activity, and mood have a tendency to decrease throughout the course of classes. This corresponds to the existing data on this issue. In particular, intensive mental workload impacts the increase in stress level and, as such, the decrease in psychoemotional state. The relationship between adaptability to the group and the indicators of psychoemotional state of the students was revealed. The results are explained by the greater importance of adaptation to the group to the students, then for the relatively new type of activity. Any kind of change occurring in the social environment influences first-year students’ mental state, and that is confirmed by the related studies.

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