Difficult Life Situations of Modern Learning Youth

Keywords: learning, emerging adulthood, difficult life situations, stress, adaptation, education level

Abstract

The difficult life situations (DLS) of modern learning youth are considered. The young people who are studying represent a special socio-age group that has a specific trajectory of development, called "emerging adulthood". Its specifics is that the development tasks have a different timing, obeying the main goal – the acquisition of a profession through long training. As a result, this group is subject to high stress, is psychologically unstable and needs the support of social and psychological services. The theoretical framework included the ideas of development in emerging adulthood, research of psychological well-being and event-situational approach. Two empirical studies were conducted with participating the college, bachelor's, master's and postgraduate students. The study 1 involved 337 respondents, Mage = 20.9, SDage = 3.0, 243 female. We used open-ended questions concerning the difficulties experienced by students at the university, followed by a structural tabular thematic analysis. The checklist "Difficult life situations of students, DLS-stud" has been compiled, including 49 difficulties. 751 respondents participated in study 2, Mage = 19.0, SDage = 4.3, 613 female. 301 people have moved to study (23 have changed their country), 416 were studying in the same city where they were born. The data clustering method was used to organize the selected difficulties. Eight clusters were identified: Adaptation to the technical conditions of studying, Adaptation to a new stage of studying, Lack of physical and psychological resources, Organization of classes at an educational office, Social conditions of studying, Current life tasks, Adaptation to a new place and Loss and fear of loss. The most frequent and rare difficulties are analyzed, the number and configuration of which vary depending on gender, level of education, and the fact of moving (more for girls, undergraduate students and those who changed their place of residence during their studies). The results obtained can make the work of university psychological services more effective.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Antsyferova L.I. (1994). Personality in Difficult Life Conditions: Rethinking, Transformation of Situations and Psychological Protection. Psychological Journal, vol. 15, no 1, pp. 3–18 (In Russian).

Arnett J.J. (2014) The Oxford Handbook of Emerging Adulthood. New York, NY: Oxford University. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199795574.001.0001

Arnett J.J. (2001) Conceptions of the Transition to Adulthood: Perspectives from Adolescence through Midlife. Journal of Adult Development, vol. 8, no 2, pp. 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026450103225

Arnett J.J. (2000) Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development from the Late Teens through the Twenties. American Psychologist, vol. 55, no 5, pp. 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469

Arnett J.J., Mitra D. (2020) Are the Features of Emerging Adulthood Developmentally Distinctive? A Comparison of Ages 18–60 in the United States. Emerging Adulthood, vol. 8, no 5, pp. 412–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696818810073

Basyuk V.S., Malyh S.B., Tikhomirova T.N. (2022) Federal Network of Psychological Services of Educational Institutions of Higher Education: Concept, Priorities and Development Resources. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie / Psychological Science and Education, vol. 27, no 6, p. 4–18 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2022270601

Bezek E. (2010) Gender Differences in Resilience in the Emerging Adulthood Population (Thesis), Rochester: Rochester Institute of Technology. Available at: http://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses (accessed 20 May 2024).

Blum G., Schmitt M. (2017) The Nonlinear Interaction of Person and Situation (NIPS) Model and Its Values for a Psychology of Situations. The Oxford Handbook of Psychological Situations (eds J.F. Rauthmann, R.A. Sherman, D.C. Funder), New York, NY: Oxford University, pp. 1–-17.

Bityutskaya E.V. (2020) Structure and Dynamics of the Image of a Difficult Life Situation]. Voprosy psihologii, vol. 66, no 3, pp. 116–131 (In Russian).

Bityutskaya E.V., Korneev A.A. (2021) Subjective Appraisal and Orientations in Difficult Life Situations as Predictors of Coping Strategies. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, vol. 14, no 3, pp. 180–199 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.11621/pir.2021.0312

Bityutskaya E.V., Korneev A.A. (2021) Subjective Assessment of a Difficult Life Situation: Diagnosis and Structure. Voprosy psihologii, vol. 67, no 4, pp. 100–113.

Claborn R.D., Kane S.T. (2012) First-Year College Students' Homesickness and Separation Anxiety: Implications for Orientation, Retention, and Social Integration. Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention, vol. 19, no 2, pp. 7–17. https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v19i2.2795

Clements K., Turpin G. (1996) The Life Events Scale for Students: Validation for Use with British Samples. Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 20, no 6, pp. 747–751. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(96)00005-0

Clinciu A.I., Cazan A.M. (2014) Academic Adjustment Questionnaire for the University Students. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 127, April, pp. 655–660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.330

Connor K.M., Davidson J.R.T. (2003) Development of a New Resilience Scale: The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, vol. 18, pp. 76–82.

https://doi.org/10.1002/da.10113

Crandall C.S., Preisler J.J., Aussprung J. (1992) Measuring Life Event Stress in the Lives of College Students: The Undergraduate Stress Questionnaire (USQ). Journal of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 15, December, pp. 627-662. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844860

Dementij L.I., Malenova A.Ju. (2004) Difficulties in Adapting Students to the Conditions of Study at the University and Ways to Overcome Them: Results of the Study. Herald of Omsk University. Series "Psychology", no 4, pp. 54–72 (In Russian).

Dericks G., Thompson E., Roberts M., Phua F. (2019) Determinants of PhD Student Satisfaction: The Roles of Supervisor, Department, and Peer Qualities. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 44, no 7, pp. 1053–1068. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1570484

Diener E., Seligman M.E.P. (2004) Beyond Money: Toward an Economy of Well-Being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, vol. 5, no 1, pp. 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00501001.x

Dol'nik V.R. (1994) Naughty Child of the Biosphere. Moscow: Pedagogika-press (In Russian).

Ferrara T.S. (2022) Understanding the Homesick Experience Through the Narratives of First-Year College Residential Students (PhD Thesis), New York: Molloy College.

Gadzella B.M. (1994) Student-Life Stress Inventory: Identification of and Reactions to Stressors. Psychological Reports, vol. 74, no 2, pp. 395–402. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1994.74.2.395

Germani A., Delvecchio E., Li J.B., Lis A., Nartova‐Bochaver S.K., Vazsonyi A.T., Mazzeschi C. (2021) The Link between Individualism-Collectivism and Life Satisfaction among Emerging Adults from Four Countries. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being, vol. 13, no 2, pp. 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12259

Golovey L.A., Petrash M.D., Strizhitskaya O.Ju., Savenysheva S.S., Murtazina I.R. (2018) The Role of Psychological Well-Being and Life Satisfaction in the Perception of Daily Stress. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya / Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, vol. 26, no 4, pp. 8–26. https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2018260402

Gorbunova E.V. (2018) Elaboration of Research on Student Withdrawal from Universities in Russia and the United States. Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, no 1, pp. 110–131 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2018-1-110-131

Gorbunova E.V., Kondratjeva O.S. (2013) Analysis of Gender Differences in the Dropout of Russian and American Undergraduate Students. Universitas, vol. 1, no 3, pp. 48–69 (In Russian).

Gruzdev I.A., Gorbunova E.V., Froumin I.D. (2013) Academic Dismissal in Russian Higher Education Institutions: Defining the Problem. Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, no 2, pp. 67–81 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2013-2-67-81

Hamaideh S.H. (2011) Stressors and Reactions to Stressors among University Students. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, vol. 57, no 1, pp. 69–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764009348442

Harrison R.V. (1985) The Person-Environment Fit Model and the Study of Job Stress. Human Stress and Cognition in Organizations (eds T.A. Beehr, R.S. Bhagat), New York, NY: Wiley, pp. 23–55.

Havighurst R.J. (1956) Research on the Developmental-Task Concept. The School Review, vol. 64, no 5, pp. 215–223. https://doi.org/10.1086/442319

Holmes T.H., Rahe R.H. (1967) The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 11, no 2, pp. 213–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(67)90010-4

Kessler R.C., Berglund P., Demler O., Jin R., Merikangas K.R., Walters E.E. (2005) Lifetime Prevalence and Age-of-Onset Distributions of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, vol. 62, no 6, pp. 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593

Khachaturova M.R., Yerofeyeva V.G., Bardadymov V.A. (2022) Students’ Mindset and Subjective Well-Being during the Period of “Emerging Adulthood”. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie / Psychological Science and Education, vol. 27, no 1, pp. 121–135 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2022270110

Kharlamenkova N.E. (2017) Intense Stressors and Psychological Consequences of Their Experience in Youth and Early Adulthood. Vestnik of Kostroma State University. Series: Pedagogy. Psychology. Sociokinetics, vol. 23, no 4, pp. 26–30 (In Russian).

Кlementyeva M. (2023) The Russian Version of Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (the IDEA-R): Developmental Features of University Students. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology, vol. 13, no 2, pp. 164–182 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu16.2023.203

Kon I.S. (1979) Psychology of Adolescence: Problems of Personality Formation. Moscow: Prosveshchenie.

Little B.R. (2000) Free Traits and Personal Contexts: Expanding a Social Ecological Model of Well-Being. Person-Environment Psychology: New Directions and Perspectives (eds W.B. Walsh, K.H. Craik, R.H. Price), Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum, pp. 87–116.

Malenova A.Ju. (2019) Exam Psychology: A Resource Approach. Omsk: Dostoevsky Omsk State University (In Russian).

Malenova A.Ju. (2007) Features of the Idea of Coping Behavior and the Choice of Coping Strategies by Students in an Exam Situation. Herald of Omsk University. Series "Psychology", no 1, pp. 12–19 (In Russian).

Malenova A.J., Potapova J.V. (2018) Emotional Well-Being of Students and Their Parents in a Separation Situation. Klinicheskaia i spetsial'naia psikhologiia / Clinical Psychology and Special Education, vol. 7, no 2, pp. 83–96 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2018070206

Malenova A.Ju., Malenov A.A., Fedotova E.E. (2019) Structure of Subjective Well-Being and Its Gender Peculiarities in Student Youth. Herald of Omsk Universaity. Series «Psychology», no 3, pp. 22–33 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.25513/2410-6364.2019.3.22-33

Matud M.P., del Pino M.J, Bethencourt J.M., Lorenzo E.D. (2023) Stressful Events, Psychological Distress and Well-Being during the Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: A Gender Analysis. Applied Research in Quality of Life, vol. 18, no 3, pp. 1291–1319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-022-10140-1

Matud M.P., Ibáñez I., Hernández-Lorenzo D.E., Bethencourt J.M. (2023) Gender, Life Events, and Mental Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, vol. 69, no 6, pp. 1432–1443. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640231164012

Mischel W., Shoda Y. (1999) Integrating Dispositions and Processing Dynamics within a Unified Theory of Personality: The Cognitive-Affective Personality System. Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (eds L.A. Pervin, O.P. John), New York, NY: Guilford, pp. 197–218.

Nartova-Bochaver S.K. (2023) Psychology of Personality and Individual Differences. Saint-Petersburg: Piter (In Russian).

Nartova-Bochaver S., Korneev A., Bochaver K. (2021) Validation of the 10-Item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale: The Case of Russian Youth. Frontiers in Psychiatry, no 12, Article no 611026. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.611026

Nartova-Bochaver S., Reznichenko S., Ochoa Padilla A., Zulkarnain Zulkarnain (2024) Measurement Invariance of the Modified Utrecht Homesickness Scale: A Case of University Students from Four Countries. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06075-5

Nartova-Bochaver S.K., Teriushkova Ju.Ju. (2016) The Image of the Future in People with Different Pasts (Longitudinal Study of Youth Crisis Transition). The Principle of Development in Modern Psychology (eds A.L. Zhuravlev, E.A. Sergienko). Moscow: Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences, pp. 439–457 (In Russian).

Neugarten B.L. (1968) Middle Age and Aging: A Reader in Social Psychology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.

Pownall M., Harris R., Blundell-Birtill P. (2022) Supporting Students during the Transition to University in COVID-19: Five Key Considerations and Recommendations for Educators. Psychology Learning & Teaching, vol. 21, no 1, pp. 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/14757257211032486

Rauthmann J.F., Sherman R.A. (2018) The Description of Situations: Towards Replicable Domains of Psychological Situation Characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 114, no 3, pp. 482–488. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000162

Robinson O.C. (2022) Conducting Thematic Analysis on Brief Texts: The Structured Tabular Approach. Qualitative Psychology, vol. 9, no 2, pp. 194–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000189

Robinson O. (2020). Development through Adulthood. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Salamonson Y., Andrew S., Watson R., Teo S.T., Deary I.J. (2011) The Stressors in Students (SIS) Scale: Development, Reliability, and Validity. Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 20, no 13–14, pp. 2078–2080. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03678.x

Seiffge-Krenke I. (2016) Leaving Home: Antecedents, Consequences, and Cultural Patterns. The Oxford Handbook of Emerging Adulthood (ed. J.J. Arnett), New York, NY: Oxford University, pp. 177–189.

Smith C., Christoffersen K., Davidson H., Herzog P.S. (2011) Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood. New York, NY: Oxford University. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199828029.001.0001

Shamionov R.M. (2015) Criteria of Subjective Personal Well-Being: Socio-Cultural Determinancy. Izvestiya of Saratov University. Educational Acmeology. Developmental Psychology, vol. 4, iss. 3, pp. 213-218 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.18500/2304-9790-2015-4-3-213-218

Tarabrina N.V., Zhuravlev A.L., Sergienko E.A., Kharlamenkova N.E. (2017) Everyday and Traumatic Stress: Current Research Directions. Fundamental and Applied Research in Modern Psychology: Results and Development Prospects (eds A.L. Zhuravlev, V.A. Kolʼtsova), Moscow: Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences, pp. 1468–1475 (In Russian).

Tanner J.L. (2006) Recentering during Emerging Adulthood: A Critical Turning Point in Life Span Human Development. Emerging Adults in America: Coming of Age in the 21st Century (eds J.J. Arnett, J.L. Tanner), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 21–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/11381-002

Thomae H. (1996) Das Individuum und seine Welt. Gottingen: Hogrefe.

Wood D., Crapnell T., Lau L., Bennett A., Lotstein D., Ferris M., Kuo A. (2018) Emerging Adulthood as a Critical Stage in the Life Course. Handbook of Life Course Health Development (eds N. Halfon, C. Forrest, R. Lerner, E. Faustman), New York, NY: Springer, pp. 123–143. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3_7

Yerofeyeva V.G., Wang P., Yang Y., Serobyan A.K., Grigoryan A.K., Nartova-Bochaver S.K. (2024) Shimmering Emerging Adulthood: In Search of the Invariant IDEA Model for Collectivistic Countries. Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 15, April, Article no 1349375. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1349375

Published
2024-07-07
How to Cite
Nartova-BochaverSofya K., BardadymovVasily A., YerofeevaVictoria G., KhachaturovaMilana R., and KhachatryanNarine G. 2024. “Difficult Life Situations of Modern Learning Youth”. Voprosy Obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, no. 2 (July). https://doi.org/10.17323/vo-2024-17187.
Section
Research Articles