Specificity and dynamics of psychological adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND. The relevance is due to the negative consequences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for individuals and for society as a whole, covering almost all aspects of life at the macro and individual levels, and the lack of detailed studies of the psychological state of the population.

AIM. Study of the specifics and dynamics of psychological adaptation in subjects during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIAL AND METHODS. Method of studying personality accentuations of K. Leonhard (modified by S. Shmishek); diagnostics of the state of aggression (Bass-Darkey questionnaire), multilevel personality questionnaire “Adaptiveness” by A.G. Maklakov and S.V. Chermyanin, test-questionnaire “Health, activity, mood”, clinical questionnaire for the detection and evaluation of neurotic conditions (Yakhin K.K., Mendelevich D.M.). Statistical analysis of the data was performed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, Student’s t-test for independent samples, and Student’s t-test for dependent samples. The study involved 51 people — 16% are men and 84% are women, who were selected by a random continuous method, whose average age is 21.3±1.87 years. The study was carried out in 2 stages. The first stage: the end of April 2020 — 21 days after the start of voluntary self-isolation; second stage: end of September — beginning of November 2020.

RESULTS. The subjects were found to have such character accentuations as exaltation — 94%, hyperthymism — 88%, emotivity — 86%, low level of personal adaptive potential (2.1±1.43), neurotic depression prevailed — 43%, obsessive-phobic disorders — 33%, conversion disorders — 27%. The expression of aggression was carried out mainly through verbal aggression (6.35±2.43), guilt (5.59±1.72) and irritation (5.37±1.92).

CONCLUSION. The subjects have a low level of personal adaptive potential, which increased with the end of self-isolation, accompanied by a gradual acceptance of what is happening, stabilization of the growth in the number of sick and dead, news about the development of measures to combat the spread of the virus, methods of treatment and prevention.