Experimental justification of directions for improving the methodological support of professional psychological selection of candidates for training in universities of the ministry of defense of the Russian Federation

This experimental study aimed to determine the possibility to increase the effectiveness of predicting the success of training and military-professional adaptation by applicants to universities of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense by including professional psychological selection, an indicator of previously unused psychological survey methods and complex visual-motor reaction. Therefore, we examined the cadets of the V–VI courses and used the results of the same groups of cadets when they pass the professional psychological selection. Mathematical and statistical data processing was carried out by discriminant analysis. The long-term forecast of successful training according to the professional psychological selection indicators is ineffective, and 61.7% of cadets have high academic performance. The inclusion of complex visual-motor reaction indicators significantly increases the reliability of the long-term forecast of high academic performance to 85.7%, overcoming the critical threshold of 75%. Additionally, by the end of the training, 10%–12% of cadets developed chronic stress-induced somatic diseases, such as circulatory system (I00–I99 according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problem 10th revision) and digestive system diseases (K00–K93), indicating imperfect military-professional adaptation and reducing the professional activity reliability. Adding the study of complex visual-motor reaction indicators and a method that evaluates the neurotic manifestations to the existing tests in the professional psychological selection procedure is necessary to predict the propensity to stress-induced somatic diseases. The indicators in the prediction models of academic performance and propensity to stress-induced somatic diseases are different, which reflects the significant difference in their biopsychosocial mechanisms. Placing a double filter in the decisive selection rule is necessary to identify people with a forecast of high academic performance and identify stress-resistant people who are not prone to stress-induced somatic diseases among them. Developing weighting coefficients of every test block is necessary to conclude; however, the existing approach is assumed to be equivalent, that is, at variance with the complex biopsychosocial mechanism of professional reliability.