Resources for stress management among today’s students – future teachers and psychologists

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study into the coping resources of contemporary students who are training to become teachers and psychologists. The following research methods were selected: the ‘Brief COPE26’ (C. Carver et al., adapted by N. Aleksina, D. Lavrinenko, O. Savchenko, O. Gerasymenko), the ‘Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)’ (S. Cohen, adapted by O.O. Veldbrecht and N.I. Tavrovetska) and the ‘Values Profile’ (S. Schwartz, adapted by I.I. Semkiv), the combination of which enables the identification of both personal values and the level of perceived stress, as well as the specific nature of stress coping. The research was conducted at the state institution «South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushynsky». A total of 120 students from various disciplines, who are future teachers and psychologists, took part.
A qualitative analysis of the data obtained was carried out. The study found that the level of perceived stress among all participants was quite high. The most prominent strategies for coping with stressful situations were active coping, seeking emotional support, expressing feelings, acceptance, planning, utilising practical support, humour, and positive reframing. The least common strategies are self-blame, denial, turning to religion, and behavioural avoidance of the problem. The values of the students – future teachers and psychologists – are predominantly characterised by self-reliance, security, kindness, and universalism, which enables them to accumulate resources to help themselves and others.