Study of the Strategies of Coping Behavior in Students of Psychology in the Context of Level- Based Higher Professional Education

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 182-190

J. Environ. Treat. Tech. ISSN:

309-1185

Journal weblink: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

Study of the Strategies of Coping Behavior in

Students of Psychology in the Context of Level-

Based Higher Professional Education

Tamara T. Shchelina , Svetlana P. Akutina , Irina S. Begantsova , Yuri E. Bolotin , Irina N.

Dvornikova , Svetlana O. Shchelina

Dr. of Pedagogical Sc., Prof.; N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod Branch of Arzamassky, Russia

Dr. of Pedagogical Sc.; N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod Branch of Arzamassky, Russia

PhD in Psychological Sc.; N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod Branch of Arzamassky, Russia

MA; N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod Branch of Arzamassky, Russia

Received: 27/07/2019

Accepted: 02/10/2019

Published: 30/02/2020

Abstract

The paper presents the experience and results of studying the features of strategies of coping behavior in psychology students

undergraduate and specialist degree students) within the system of level-based higher education. The study was conducted on the

(

material of diagnostic results of 316 students using the COPE Inventory and the proactive coping behavior inventory based on SAT

self-actualization test methods. The obtained results underlie the basis for the development of programs of psychological and

pedagogical assistance in correction of the students’ personal and professional development with respect to the mastered level of

education and manifested features of undergraduate and specialist degree studies.

Keywords: Coping behavior strategies, Adequate and inadequate strategies, Professional and personal development, Bachelor

degree, Specialist degree

circumstances: first are the noted in different studies

Introduction

characteristics of the students themselves: personal

immaturity, the psychological age lag behind the numerical

age, anxiety and emotional instability. Secondly, it is the

changing requirements for the training of a specialist in the

field of psychological assistance in the context of growing

emotional tension and psychological stress in a society.

Thirdly, it is also the search for ways and means of

developing and enriching the future psychologists with

behavioral skills conducive to the preservation of their

psychological health, emotional well-being and the

prevention of occupational deformities. Under these

conditions the studies that reveal the essential characteristics

of coping behavior in psychology students, and the features

and conditions for the development of adequate coping

strategies in the system of higher education become

consequentially relevant.

The transition of domestic higher education to the level-

based system has given rise to a number of problems and

issues, the solution of which still remains a priority for

research of specialists in the field of psychology and

pedagogy of higher education. Such issues include

comparative analysis of the content specifics and

organization of the educational process at the level of

undergraduate, special, graduate and postgraduate studies (3,

4); psychological features of students and patterns of their

personal and professional development with respect to

various levels of education (5, 6, 7, 10, 15); etc.

A special place in this studies is given to the search of

opportunities for psychological and pedagogical influence on

the development of the personality of future professionals;

such influence is usually associated with personalized and

proficient psychological assistance both throughout crisis and

other extremely dangerous situations. This is due to several

The study of the problem of coping behavior as a special

form of behavior reflecting the individual's willingness to

solve life problems has begun in Western psychology in the

60s of the 20th century; represented by the works of R.

Lazarus, S. Folkman, N. Haan, R. Mohs, J. Schaeffer, K.

Aldwin, J. Amirhan, J. Weyllant and other authors [Lazarus

Corresponding author: Tamara T. Shchelina, Dr. of

Pedagogical Sc., Prof.; N. I. Lobachevsky State University of

Nizhni

arz65@mail.ru.

Novgorod

(Arzamassky

Branch).

E-mail:

182

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 182-190

R., Folkman S., Haan N., Moos R., Schaefer J., Amirkhan J.,

Vaillant G.].

used in the present study as the theoretical and

methodological basis for studying the coping behavior in

psychology students. The concept examines two models of

professional development of a prospective expert: a model of

adapted functioning, which implies submission of the subject

to external circumstances and adapting the environment to

the subject’s original interests; and a model of professional

development of a future specialist, when a person is capable

of going beyond usual behavior and reflecting on own actions

(including occupational), and therefore, can competently

manage and directly influence the situation, being aware of

own potential.

Academicians of domestic psychology have been actively

developing the problem of coping behavior since the 90s.

Prerequisites for the study of the phenomenon were laid in

the studies of K.K. Platonov, L.I. Umansky, B.M. Teplov;

they considered this concept as stress resistance or ‘emotional

resilience’. In the works of V.S. Merlin it was represented as

an ‘emotional stability’. The appeal of Russian psychologists

to the problems of coping behavior was due to the expansion

of ideas about the forms of personal activity of an individual,

attention to the issues of self-regulation and strengthening

(within the framework of the subject-activity approach) of

In line with the described concept, coping with stress is

one of its sides - the psychology of the subject.

considered as a strategy of behavior that promotes

Domestic studies described strategies of coping behavior

in different periods (family and academic) of individual’s life

development of professionally important personality

characteristics of psychology students, revealing the future

specialist’s commitment and ability to exercise cognitive,

emotional and behavioral flexibility, develop professional

identity and orientation towards the expert, the client and the

situation in general, as well as professional competence.

Based on the developed by L.M. Mitina (8) models of

personal and professional development of subjects of

education (model of adaptive functioning and model of

professional development) two types of coping behavior

strategies were proposed and defined as adequate and

inadequate. Adequate strategies are not only aimed at directly

resolving a conflict situation by appropriate adequate means,

but also develop individual’s strive for self-development,

creative activity, professional self-awareness, and contribute

to the growth of occupational orientation, competence and

flexibility. Inadequate strategies of coping behavior do not

lead to proper resolution of the situation, leading only to the

person’s adaptation to this situational conditions; such

strategies do not allow the further development of

professional consciousness and other integral personal

characteristics (orientation, competence, flexibility), and do

not contribute to non-standard approach for resolving

stressful situations.

(N.O. Belorukova, M.S. Golubeva, E.V. Kuftyak, O.B.

Podobina, M.V. Saporovskaya).

Special attention was paid to the personal determinants of

coping behavior (S.V. Gridneva, L.I. Dementiy, M.S.

Zamyshlyaeva, T.L. Kryukova, D.A. Leontyev, A.Yu.

Malenova, K. Muzdybaev, A.I. Tashcheva, M.A.

Kholodnaya, S. Maddi, D. Khoshaba, S. Carver, J. Schaefer).

Of significant importance were the studies of coping

strategies in the field of clinical and medical psychology

(

N.A. Sirota, V.A. Tashlykov, E.I. Chekhlaty, V.M.

Yaltonsky).

The coping strategies of particular occupational and age

groups were analyzed in the works of E.S. Balabanova, R.M.

Granovskaya, S.V. Gridneva, E.E. Danilova, K.I. Kornev,

G.S. Korytova, E.B. Lunina, I.V. Mikhailycheva, S.K.

Nartova-Bochaver, I.M. Nikolskaya, L.E. Petrova, Yu.V.

Postylyakova, S.A. Khazova.

Quite helpful for theoretical analysis and conducting of

experimental work became the studies of coping strategies of

psychology students, which revealed the perceptions of

difficult life situations by youth of both genders, their

assessment of such situations and the choice of coping

strategies (E.A. Annenkova, I.P. Streltsova); the studies also

gave a description of coping strategies in cases of intelligent

tasks and experiences with the influence of creative thinking

Materials and methods of research

The study involved 316 psychology students aged 17 to

(A.G. Ilyukhin, N.S. Kolienko, Z.B. Kuchina), and provided

4 (115 undergraduate students of 1-4 academic years and

01 student of 1-5 years of specialist's degree) receiving

the experience of psychological guidance of professional and

personal development and support of students in a stressful

state (A. A. Bekhter, M. V. Dontsova, A. R. Erbegeeva).

An analysis of conducted research indicated the authors'

attention to the specifics of psychological defense

mechanisms and behavioral strategies of students in conflict;

to the psychological support for the constructive overcoming

of frustration for students with learning challenges, and

developing reflexivity as the subject resource of coping

behavior. At the same time, the specifics of the development

of coping behavior in the process of mastering the occupation

by bachelors and specialists and the features of the

educational process opportunities in ensuring the

development of adaptive and correction of non-adaptive

coping strategies in future psychologists are not yet

sufficiently studied.

training at the psychological-pedagogical faculty of the

Arzamas branch of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny

Novgorod (UNN). A set of diagnostics techniques was used,

corresponding to the stages of the study.

To study coping behavior Carver, Scheier &

Weintraub’s COPE Inventory (18) (adopted by E.I.

Rasskazova, T.O. Gordeeva & E.N. Osina (4, 9) was used,

along with PCI Proactive Coping Inventory adopted by E.S.

Starchenkova (11–13). The choice fell on them because the

COPE method reveals a sufficiently large range of coping

strategies (it consists of 15 coping strategies); and PCI

proactive coping inventory presents coping strategies that

involve the development of resources in coping with stress

(

1, 2).

The COPE Inventory was developed in 1989 by C.S.

The concept of the personal and professional

development of the subjects of education (L.M. Mitina) was

Carver, M.F. Scheier & J.K. Weintraub based on the

approach of R. Lazarus and the behavior self-regulation

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 182-190

model proposed by COPE authors. This methodology

provides an opportunity to test a wide range of productive

and unproductive coping strategies, including several types of

avoidance coping, a tendency to use psychoactive substances,

a tendency to turn to religion in stressful life situations, and

also the propensity to rely on social support in its two forms:

instrumental and emotional.

Productive strategies of coping with a problematic issues

are represented by positive reinterpretation and personal

growth, active coping, restraint coping, acceptance and

planning.

The Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI) is a test method

designed to diagnose personal characteristics that prepare a

person to live a stressful situation and to escape it with

increased personal resources. This method was developed by

Greenglas, Schwarzer and Taubert in 1999 (19) and adapted

by E.S. Starchenkova in 2009 (11). Its authors comprehend

the proactive coping as the integration of affective, cognitive,

intentional and social factors into a set of coping strategies

that not only enable an individual to cope with stressful

challenges, but also contribute to the advancement to

important personal goals. The PCI authors noted that

proactive coping is a special lifestyle based on the conviction

that what happens in life of each person depends on the very

same person, but not on luck or external circumstances. The

life of such people is guided by individual, not external

factors; hereby they are responsible for the events that

happen to them. Therefore, proactive individuals are prone to

a positive assessment of what is happening; such individuals

accumulate personal resources avoiding its waste, and they

are capable of quick mobilization of the resources in case of

stress, which requires highly developed social skills.

more detailed description of productive coping

strategies is as follows. The Positive Reinterpretation and

Personal Growth strategy correlates with the ability to rethink

the stressful situation in a positive way. The essence of the

Active Coping strategy is to take active steps or direct actions

aimed at overcoming a stressful situation. The Restraint

strategy means waiting for the right moment for action and

refraining from too hasty, impulsive action. The Acceptance

strategy implies the acceptance of eventuated reality, and

general awareness of the reality of a stressful situation. The

Planning strategy is a reflection on how to deal with a

difficult life situation and the development of behavioral

strategies. The essence of the Seeking of Instrumental Social

Support strategy lies in the propensity to receive an advice,

help or information. The strategy of Seeking of Emotional

Social Support is a desire to find emotional, moral support,

empathy and understanding.

The Proactive Coping Inventory contains six scales:

1. Proactive coping: the process of setting important

individual goals, as well as the process of self-regulation to

achieve these goals, including cognitive and behavioral

components. The essence of proactive coping lies in efforts to

create shared resources that facilitate the achievement of

important goals and contribute to personal growth.

To a greater degree the Seeking of Instrumental Social

Support and Seeking of Emotional Social Support strategies

can be attributed to non-productive ones, since their frequent

use blocks the autonomous behavior of the individual,

making this person dependent on others or making the

presence of others or external influence necessary to solve

the problem. However, the average level of values collected

by the respondent can also be considered satisfactory.

2. Reflective coping: the perception and reflection on

possible behavioral alternatives by comparing their possible

effectiveness. It includes an assessment of possible stressors,

an analysis of problems and available resources, the

generation of a proposed plan of action and a forecast of the

likely outcome of the activity along with the choice of ways

to carry it out. In this case, perspective rather than

retrospective reflection is being considered.

Non-productive strategies of coping with a problematic

issues are the following: mental disengagement, focus on and

venting of emotions, denial, turning to religion, humor,

behavioral disengagement, use of ‘sedatives’ and suppression

of competing activities.

3. Strategic planning: the process of creating a well-

thought-out, goal-oriented action plan, in which the most

ambitious goals are divided into sub-goals (tree of goals), the

management of the achievement of which becomes more

accessible.

The Mental Disengagement strategy presupposes the

usage of various types of activity to distract from the

unpleasant thoughts associated with the problem. The

meaning of the Focus on and Venting of Emotions strategy is

focusing on unpleasant emotions, troubles and expression of

feelings. The Denial strategy is a refusal to believe in what

happened or attempts to deny its reality. The Turning to

Religion strategy means seeking the help of God, faith, and

religion. The Humor strategy involves turning the situation

into a joke. The Behavioral Disengagement strategy denotes

giving up the goal and regulating efforts to interact with the

stressor. The Use of ‘Sedatives’ strategy consists in alcohol,

medications or narcotics employment as a way to avoid

problems and improve well-being. The Suppression of

Competing Activities strategy represents an avoidance of

getting distracted by other types of activity and, possibly,

ignoring other things in order to more actively cope with a

stressful situation.

4. Preventive coping: the condition of anticipating

potential stressors and preparing actions to neutralize

negative consequences before a possible stressful event

occurs. Such uncertainty stimulates a person to use a wide

range of coping behaviors (accumulation of funds, insurance,

healthy lifestyle, etc.).

5. Seeking for instrumental support: the process of

obtaining information, advices and feedback from the

immediate social environment in coping with stress.

6. Seeking for emotional support: this scale is focused on

the regulation of emotional distress by sharing feelings with

others, seeking sympathy and communicating with people

from the immediate social environment.

The inventory was designed to study the coping strategies

of the individual, but not in terms of the traditional

comprehension of coping as a way of avoiding a problem, but

in terms of how to solve the difficulties that arise, including

preventive preparation for expected issues.

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 182-190

Table 1: СОРЕ inventory method results

Bachelors

Specialists

Coping strategies

F1 (Positive Reinterpretation And Personal Growth)

F4 (Seeking Of Instrumental Social Support)

F5 (Active Coping)

F8 (Humor)

F10 (Restraint)

Adequate

F13 (Accepatance)

F14 (Suppression Of Competing Activities)

F15 (Planning)

F2 (Mental Disengagement)

F3 (Focus On and Venting Of Emotions)

F6 (Denial)

F7 (Turning To Religion)

F9 (Behavioral Disengagement)

F11 (Seeking Of Emotional Social Support)

F12 (Use Of Sedatives)

Inadequate

Therefore, from the point of view of the practice –

educating people of how to use proactive coping strategies in

the professional sphere may lead to a decrease in distress and

an increase in the sense of professional competence.

Utilization of the specified diagnostic tools and the adequacy

of the results obtained with its assistance were confirmed by

studies of coping strategies in other countries (16, 17, 20–23).

The results were processed using the calculations necessary

for analyzing statistical data in Microsoft Excel, IBM SPSS

Statistical analysis comparing the use of certain coping

strategies demonstrated verifiable difference between groups

(χ² = 7.869, p = 0.049), which proved significant changes in

the preference of certain coping strategies by students during

school time.

First-year specialist degree students in

a stressful

situation often resorted to problem solving planning (F15 -

56.25%). During the second year the set of coping strategies

expanded: being stressed out the students most often were

equally inclined to both overestimate the situation (F1 -

3 (Friedman χ² test, Mann–Whitney U test).

7.04%) and to perceive it in a negative way and concentrate

on negative emotions (F3 - 37.04%); when it didn’t lead to a

positive result the second-year specialists proceeded to active

measures to solve the problem (F5 - 33.33%) or at least to

plan the solution (F15 - 33.33%). Third-year specialist degree

students significantly reduced the number of coping behavior

strategies compared to the previous course: first of all, in

stressful situations they resorted to thinking about how to

deal with difficult life situations (F15 - 80%), and secondly,

attempted to reinterpret the stressful situation in a positive

way (F1 - 40%). Fourth-year seniors had a similar situation

with third-year students, however, on the contrary, they

primarily resorted to finding positive moments in the current

situation (F1 - 57.44%), and only then to plan the solution

Research results

At the first stage the features of coping behavior

strategies of psychology students were studied using the

COPE Inventory and the proactive coping behavior

inventory. The results of this study are presented in

comparative Table 1.

As can be seen in Table 1, there were differences

between groups of bachelor and specialist students studying

psychology in the choice of leading coping strategies.

First-year undergraduates in most cases in stressful

situations tended to resort to active coping (F5 - 65%), which

is expressed in active measures to overcome a stressful

situation. When it did not help they started to focus on the

unpleasant feelings associated with this situation and actively

reacted to it: they shouted, they came into conflicts and

violently reacted to what is happening (F3 - 45%). Second-

year undergraduates in most stressful situations tended to

make fun of themselves and the current unpleasant situation

(

F15 - 42.55%); same as second-year students they could also

fall into despair and succumb to negative emotions (F3 -

4.04%). Senior specialist students of the 5th course (in

contrast with all the previous ones) in a stressful situation

resorted to a greater degree to the help of an instrumental

type, such as an advice on a particular case, information, etc.

(F8 - 60%), and when it did not save them the students turned

(F4 - 51.16%), the next step was the planning of the

to someone for emotional support, understanding and

sympathy (F11 - 50%); however, if there were nobody to turn

to for sympathy, then sophomores had to pull themselves

together and try to reinterpret the situation in a positive way

situational resolution (F15 - 34.88%), and as a last resort

students took refuge in a somewhat non-standard strategy of

coping behavior as a turn to religion (F7 - 32.56% ), what

generally could denote the desire to ‘shift’ a part of the

solution to their problems to someone or something else.

Statistical analysis comparing the prevalence of different

coping strategies in specialist degree students depending on

the academic year did not give statistically significant

differences (χ² = 1.619, p = 0.805), which may be due to the

presence of repetitive coping strategies during numerous

academic terms (F1 and F15).

(F1 - 45%). Third-year undergrads were more likely to take

steps to overcome the problematic issue (F5 - 42.86%), but

they were only beginning to plan how to do this if it turns out

that the problem is not solved right away (F15 – 35.71%). In

most stressful situations 4th year seniors did not go into

action right away, but, like third-year students, they planned

different behavioral strategies (F15 - 50%), however, when it

came to a dead end they turned to others for sympathy,

emotional support or ‘a shoulder to cry on’ (F11 - 31.48%).

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Table 2: Indicators of adequacy of coping strategies for bachelors and specialist degree students of psychology (СОРЕ)

Bachelors

Adequate

65%

75%

42.86%

50%

Specialists

Adequate

31.26%

55.56%

20%

Academic Years

Inadequate

35%

25%

57.14%

50%

Inadequate

68.74%

44.44%

80%

68.09%

72.09%

31.91%

27.91%

Table 3: The results of proactive coping behavior methodology polling

Bachelors

Specialists

Proactive Strategies of Coping Behavior

Proactive coping

Reflective coping

Strategic planning

Preventive coping

Seeking for instrumental support

Seeking for emotional support

The next step was to consider the number of prevailing

adequate and inadequate strategies for coping behavior in

psychology students enrolled in bachelor and specialist

degrees. The results are presented in Table 2. As it is clearly

seen in Table 2, junior undergraduate students were

dominated by the number of adequate coping strategies, on

the contrary, the number of inadequate strategies increased in

senior academic years. Inadequate coping strategies

dominated among specialist degree students, despite the fact

that within the dominant strategies of coping behavior were

also the adequate ones (F1 and F15), that was notable

particularly during 1, 3 and 5 academic years. Thus, both in

the case of bachelors and specialists the emergence of a crisis

period starting from the 3rd year to the end of training was

observed, which was also confirmed by the presence of

inadequate F3, F7 and F11 among the dominant coping

strategies in different periods.

The second stage of the research was the study of

proactive strategies of coping behavior in undergraduate and

specialist degree psychology students using the inventory of

proactive coping behavior adapted by E.S. Starchenkova. The

results are presented in Table 3.

According to the results shown in Table 3, undergraduate

and specialist degree students had qualitative differences in

the prevalence of proactive (resource) coping behavior

strategies.

facilitate the achievement of important goals and promote

personal growth; preventive coping (38.3%), expressed in

anticipation of potential stressors and preparation of actions

to neutralize negative consequences before

a possible

stressful event occurs; and seek for emotional social support

(38.3%), characterized by the search for empathy and

dialogue with people from the immediate social environment.

Comparison of bachelor students by years did not give

statistically significant differences in the use of proactive

coping strategies (χ² = 3.931, p = 0.269), which may be due

to the use of similar proactive coping strategies during

different academic terms (proactive coping, seeking for

emotional support).

For the first-year specialist degree students the leading

proactive coping strategy was the search for emotional social

support (56.3%), expressed in the desire to share their

experiences and emotions with loved ones. In addition to the

search for emotional support of close people (36.7%),

second-year students-specialists also actively exhibited

proactive coping (36.7%), characterized by the formation of

common resources for achieving the goal, and reflective

coping (30%), manifested in perception and reflection on

possible behavioral alternatives by comparing their possible

effectiveness. During the third academic year the leading

strategies were still proactive coping (40.4%) and reflective

coping (31.9%); however, the third place was occupied by

preventive coping (36.2%), which is featured by actions

aimed at preparing to neutralize potentially dangerous

situations. Among the students of the fourth year the leading

strategies were again proactive coping (63.8%) and

preventive coping (84%), but besides that the strategy of

seeking for emotional support (63.8%) was back to the lead

team, which implies a student’s search for sympathy and

understanding. By the end of the training proactive (40.9%)

and preventive coping (40.9%) became the leading strategies

for proactive coping behavior. A comparative analysis of the

preferences of proactive strategies of coping behavior by

specialist degree students by years of study also did not give

statistically significant differences (χ² = 4.933, p = 0.294),

which, as in the case of bachelor students, is expressed by the

presence of similar strategies of proactive coping behavior

within years of study (proactive overcoming, preventive

overcoming, search for emotional support).

For the first-year freshmen the leading proactive

strategy was proactive coping (65%), which is expressed in

setting goals and self-regulating in achieving them. Second-

year undergraduates were dominated by the search for

emotional support (60%), characterized by the regulation of

emotional distress by sharing feelings with others. During the

third academic year the range of used proactive strategies of

coping behavior was expanded and changed: proactive

coping (57.1%) becomes the leading strategy, thanks to

which bachelor students formed common resources for

achieving goals; not so far behind was the reflexive

overcoming (50%), characterized by perception and

reflection on possible behavioral alternatives by comparing

their possible effectiveness. By the fourth year near the finals

the number of leading strategies of proactive coping behavior

of bachelor students became even greater: proactive coping

(44.7%), allowing students to form common resources that

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Table 4: СОРЕ and PCI proactive coping inventory indicators of performance differences in undergraduate and specialist degree

students

Mann–Whitney U test values

Factors

Level of statistical significance

СОРЕ Inventory

Adequate strategies of coping behavior

Non-adequate strategies of coping behavior

F1 (Positive reinterpretation and personal

growth)

2.000

0.050

.000

0.624

F2 (Mental disengagement)

F3 (Focus on and venting of emotions)

F4 (Seeking of instrumental social support)

F5 (Active coping)

F6 (Denial)

F7 (Turn to religion)

F8 (Humor)

F9 (Behavioral disengagement)

F10 (Restraint)

F11 (Seeking of emotional social support)

F12 (Use of sedatives)

F13 (Acceptance)

0.000

9.000

7.000

2.000

0.000

8.500

5.000

9.000

0.000

6.000

9.000

3.500

7.000

0.013

0.806

0.455

0.050

0.011

0.712

0.221

0.213

0.806

0.014

0.325

0.806

0.108

0.462

F14 (Suppression of competing activities)

F15 (Planning)

PCI proactive coping inventory

Proactive coping

Reflective coping

Strategic planning

Preventive coping

6.000

10.000

8.000

6.000

9.000

0.327

1.000

0.623

0.624

0.325

0.806

Seeking for instrumental support

Seeking for emotional support

The third stage of the research was a comparison of

psychology students by groups (bachelors and specialists)

within their coping behavior strategies representation. The

comparison results are presented in Table 4.

Thus, the obtained data indicated several statistical

differences between undergraduate and specialist degree

students of psychology: the predominance of adaptive and

non-adaptive coping strategies, F2, F5, F6, F11.

- this is either using various types of activity to distract from

unpleasant thoughts associated with the problem, refusing to

believe in what happened or attempting to deny its reality.

As for proactive coping strategies that involve finding

and using resources in stressful situations, there are no

statistically significant differences in the choice of bachelors

and specialists. The absence of significant differences also

confirms that during training both types of students equally

often employed such types of behavior like proactive coping

and seeking for emotional support as the most accessible

ways of searching for resources and overcoming a stressful

situation; and equally rare of more mature proactive coping

behaviors such as strategic planning and the seeking for

instrumental support. The similarity of the prevalence of

these types of strategies can be explained by the insufficient

psychological maturity of students of the same age.

Based on the data shown it can be concluded that the

coping behavior of psychology students differs depending on

the curriculum, which is reflected in the prevalence of

different types of behavior strategies (adequate coping

behavior strategies are more prevalent among the bachelor

students; inadequate – among the specialists). This may be

due to the initial characteristics of students: as a rule,

undergraduates who study for 4 years are more focused on

practical work, besides their area of study are far wider;

therefore, they have no competition for admission to a certain

faculties. Specialist degree students, on the contrary, due to

more lengthy studies are more focused on the deepening of

knowledge, they are not too eager to practice immediately or

to enroll in discipline (the list of which is becoming less and

less every year); their environment is way more competitive,

and since the forces and energy are spent large - they are no

longer left to search for and to use adequate methods of

coping behavior. This is also manifested in the application of

certain coping behavior strategies: practice-oriented

bachelors are using active coping more than specialists; this

strategy implies quick and abrupt inclusion in a problem

situation, as well as the search for emotional support as the

simplest and most accessible coping behavior strategy.

Students-specialists to a greater degree than bachelors use

those coping behavior strategies that do not require abrupt

and quick actions, but only delay the solution of the problem

Discussion

The findings suggested that by the middle of training the

number of inadequate coping strategies among undergraduate

students is increasing, but there is no single leading strategy

that would be present through all the grad days. At the same

time, as students move up to senior classes, they keep using

strategies of junior years (active coping during years 3 and 1,

emotional support in 4 and 2, planning in 4 and 3), which

reflects some search for the most understandable and ‘right’

(in student’s understanding) ways of responding to critical

situations, bearing in mind that if a particular strategy has

previously worked well, it means that it can be used in

similar situations. Nevertheless, as an increasing number of

inadequate coping strategies shows, in addition to the ‘right’

ways of responding there are also ‘wrong’ recipes in the

students ‘cook books’ that exacerbate the crisis, preventing

students from adequately coping with the stressful situation.

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 182-190

This crisis extends not only to the personal development of

students, but also to the professional due to the fact that

bachelors in the finals are somewhat scared of upcoming

departure from the usual ‘comfort zone’ - graduation and job

hunting.

this also testifies to the inner turmoil of some crisis

conditions during 1, 2 and 4 training years when students

simply needed to share their feelings with

a close

environment, and get some support and positive emotions.

However, towards the end of training students developed the

skill of anticipating potentially dangerous and stressful

situations, as well as thinking through options to eliminate

negative consequences, which presupposes certain self-

stimulation to use a fairly wide range of coping behaviors.

Noteworthy is that starting from the second year students also

used a wide range of proactive strategies for coping behavior,

but by the last term this range narrowed down to two:

proactive and preventive coping behaviors, since these

behavioral strategies have shown the greatest efficiency in

previous years.

In contrast to the bachelor students, the specialists had a

more pronounced crisis state, characterized by the growth of

inadequate coping strategies by the end of their academic

education. This may indicate a greater fear of graduation,

because unlike undergraduates, the specialists are less likely

to enter the master's program due to the need to pay tuition.

The fear gets stronger before the graduation, which is also

manifested in the leading coping strategies: the constancy of

the leading coping behavior (planning) is more pronounced

during first and third academic years, but gets significantly

reduced by finals. The frequently encountered strategy of

positive reinterpretation and personal growth appears in the

middle of learning process as an attempt to look for

something good in the difficulties associated with learning

and personal development in a given period, and almost

disappears by the end against the background of the

emergence of other coping strategies (seeking of instrumental

social support and turn to religion). It is these strategies that

indicate that students really need help in this period — either

in a specific counselling, or just in someone to take over of

some work and responsibilities, especially when preparing

for final exams.

Statistical analysis demonstrated significant

differences in the application of strategies for coping

behavior by undergraduate and specialist degree students of

psychology, however, no significant difference was found

between the choices of proactive coping strategies. This

suggests that psychology students, depending on the training

programs, have initially different ways of coping with stress,

but the resources available for coping with a stressful

situation are similar to those available to their age group.

Conclusion

The conducted empirical study allowed considering the

As for proactive coping behavior, bachelor students did

strategies of coping behavior of psychology students enrolled

in the undergraduate and specialist degree academic training

from the point of view of the adequacy of the application of

these strategies, as well as analyzing the choice of leading

strategies of students' coping behavior during their grad days.

Proven by the data, qualitative and quantitative differences

between psychology students studying for undergraduate and

specialist degrees were also statistically confirmed. In most

cases students used inadequate ways of coping behavior to

overcome a stressful situation, however, the undergraduates

used such inadequate strategies only in the middle of their

studies, but specialist degree students - during the whole

course of academic training.

As for proactive coping strategies, there is a rather large

similarity in use since all of them utilize simpler and

accessible resource means of coping behavior. Thus, the

obtained data indicated that psychology students are in need

of a program correcting coping strategies and developing

resources for coping behavior. Moreover, the correction

programs should differ from each other depending on the

undergraduate or specialist degree curriculum.

not have

a leading coping strategy that would hold

throughout the entire training, but it is still the most common

strategy that occurs during 1–3–4 academic years; this fact

testifies that during this time students are looking for and

trying to form resources that facilitate the achievement of

important goals and promote personal growth. It is also worth

noting that among the second-year students the far not most

constructive way of proactive coping behavior prevailed - the

search for emotional support (which indicates a certain

crisis), and bachelors in this period of study would appreciate

some support and encouragement. After this crisis period

students expanded the range of proactive coping behavior

strategies: there were two in the 3rd year and three in the 4th,

when the proactive strategies were mainly concerned with

evaluating potential stressors, analyzing problems and

available resources, generating a proposed action plan and

preparing actions to neutralize negative consequences before

a possible stressful event occurs. But since among the leading

strategies of coping behavior in the 4th year seeking for

emotional support was found again, one can observe another

students’ ‘cry for help’ - a search for sympathy and

communication with the people from immediate social

environment, which again speaks of a rather difficult period

in the life of graduates.

The obtained materials can be of practical use for

developing

curricula

for

educational

psychology,

developmental psychology, stress psychology and the basics

of stress management, as well as for option courses that study

the characteristics of coping behavior as a professionally

important feature of an expert’s personality, which

determines the success of occupational activities,

organizational and managerial decisions, prevention of

emotional burnout and occupational deformities.

Both bachelors and specialist degree students did not

manifest the presence of leading strategy of coping behavior,

but over a sufficiently long period of study a strategy such as

proactive coping revealed itself, which also suggests that

students found common resources to overcome stress and

crisis situations. In addition, coping behavior strategies such

as the search for emotional support (1, 2 and 4 years) and

preventive coping (3-5) were also often found in specialists;

One of the alternatives could be an option course on

‘Coping strategies in solving professional tasks’ with the

following focus areas: the development of professional

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 182-190

consciousness and professional reflection, the acquisition of

experience of available professional activities by students and

providing them with individual assistance in comprehending

the strategies used. The program contains 36 academic hours,

each of which is the basis for building the next class. The

program of the ‘Coping strategies in solving professional

tasks’ course consists of the following sets.

professional self-development resources; situations of

success are created within the framework of individual and

group solving professional tasks; individual and group

counseling is provided to students on the issues of self-

checking and development of adaptive coping strategies in

everyday life and professional activities.

Stage 1. Motivational-advisory set.

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