Predictive Assessment of the Analysis of the Parameters of Track and Field Students’ Statokinetic Stability and Mental Performance in the Development of Exam Stress

In the article, it is shown that mental performance can be used to predict the degree of tension in track and field students under the influence of emotional stress associated with passing the exam. During the exams, there was a decrease in the statokinetic stability of the students' body, which led to an increase in erroneous answers of students and a decrease in the indicators of mental performance and work productivity, which remained reduced even a week after the end of the exam. The work also shows that a decrease in statokinetic stability is a factor of destabilization of the optimal level of mental performance and productivity of performing cognitive tasks.

Impact of Practicing Mindful Breathing in Class

Many community college students experience high levels of stress due to the demands of coursework and stressors outside of the classroom. Contemplative practices such as deep breathing can reduce stress and increase focus, but students may not be familiar with or feel that they have time to engage in these practices. We hypothesized that introducing students to mindful breathing in our accounting and biology classes would help students manage stress during the semester, reduce test anxiety, and improve student performance. To test this hypothesis, we introduced some sections of our courses to mindful breathing techniques such as square breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and victorious breathing and set aside time at the start of each class to allow students to engage in these practices. At the end of the semester, we surveyed students to assess their past and present experiences with contemplative practices and their perceptions of the benefits of mindful breathing. We also asked students to rate their levels of exam stress and to rate the general feelings of stress they experienced during the semester, comparing their responses with responses from students in control sections that were not introduced to mindful breathing. The survey results indicated that mindful breathing was a new practice to some students and a familiar practice to others. Most students felt that the practice of deep breathing at the start of each class helped them reduce stress, develop a sense of connectedness, and improve focus. However, there was no consistent difference in self-reported exam stress or general stress between students in sections with and without in-class contemplative breathing. There was also no difference in course performance, as reflected by overall course grade, between sections with and without in-class contemplative breathing. Although it was not the focus of this study, we observed that in-class contemplative breathing practice seemed to improve the learning environment and helped build trusting relationships with students.

Tracking Stress, Mental Health, and Resilience Factors in Medical Students Before, During, and After a Stress-Inducing Exam Period: Protocol and Proof-of-Principle Analyses for the RESIST Cohort Study

Background Knowledge of mental distress and resilience factors over the time span from before to after a stressor is important to be able to leverage the most promising resilience factors and promote mental health at the right time. To shed light on this topic, we designed the RESIST (Resilience Study) study, in which we assessed medical students before, during, and after their yearly exam period. Exam time is generally a period of notable stress among medical students, and it has been suggested that exam time triggers mental distress. Objective In this paper, we aim to describe the study protocol and to examine whether the exam period indeed induces higher perceived stress and mental distress. We also aim to explore whether perceived stress and mental distress coevolve in response to exams. Methods RESIST is a cohort study in which exam stress functions as a within-subject natural stress manipulation. In this paper, we outline the sample (N=451), procedure, assessed measures (including demographics, perceived stress, mental distress, 13 resilience factors, and adversity), and ethical considerations. Moreover, we conducted a series of latent growth models and bivariate latent change score models to analyze perceived stress and mental distress changes over the 3 time points. Results We found that perceived stress and mental distress increased from the time before the exams to the exam period and decreased after the exams to a lower level than before the exams. Our findings further suggest that higher mental distress before exams increased the risk of developing more perceived stress during exams. Higher perceived stress during exams, in turn, increased the risk of experiencing a less successful (or quick) recovery of mental distress after exams. Conclusions As expected, the exam period caused a temporary increase in perceived stress and mental distress. Therefore, the RESIST study lends itself well to exploring resilience factors in response to naturally occurring exam stress. Such knowledge will eventually help researchers to find out which resilience factors lend themselves best as prevention targets and which lend themselves best as treatment targets for the mitigation of mental health problems that are triggered or accelerated by natural exam stress. The findings from the RESIST study may therefore inform student support services, mental health services, and resilience theory.

Influence of Examınatıon Stress on Vegetatıve Indıcators ff 17-21-Year-Old Students-Phlegmatıcs

Exam stress is one of the numerous causes of complex psychophysiological stress in students. One of the modern problems of electrophysiology is the study of the action mechanism of high levels of anxiety in students during and after the examination. The speed of development of the lifestyle of young people and an increase in the level of stress in the environment lead to a change in the relationship in the adaptive function of the body and the emergence of various kinds of deviations. Examination stress is accompanied by the emergence of many complex neurophysiological changes in the body, which negatively affects the life of young men. In all cases, young people strive to achieve their goals, which in itself leads to emotional stress. One of them is the study of the functioning of the nervous system during emotional stress and clarification of the role of various types of the higher nervous system in this. Despite a comprehensive study of this problem, this issue still remains relevant, and the study of the mechanisms of the anxiety process continues. The article presents the results of changes in the level of situational and personal anxiety of the examination process on the indicators of the autonomic nervous system in I and V year students, at the age of 17-21 years, having a type of phlegmatism. Before the beginning of the experiment, the type of temperament was determined by G. Eisenk test. Material and methods. To determine the level of situational and personal anxiety (emotional tension) of 17–21-year-olds, having the phlegmatic type of temperament, we used the method of expressive test two days before the exam, 30 minutes before the exam and 30 minutes after the exam. In all three groups, arterial pressure was measured using the Korotkova method and pulpator method of determining the heart rate per minute. Vegetative tone was calculated based on the Kerdo vegetative index. Results and discussion. The obtained results showed that 17-year-old phlegmatics-first-year students observed differences between the frequencies of cardiac contraction and arterial pressure two days before the exam, 30 minutes before the exam and 30 minutes after the exam. In all groups, the test had a sympathetic character, which testifies to the superiority of the sympathetic nervous system in the duration of the entire examination period. In 21-year-old students-phlegmatics course-vegetative indicators in two days before the exam, 30 minutes before the exam and 30 minutes after the exam differred slightly in comparison with 17-year-olds. Similarly, the Kerdo vegetative index of the 17-year-old students-phlegmatics and 21-year-old students-phlegmatics in all groups had the sympathetic character. This is also evidence of the prevalence of a sympathetic disorder of the sympathetic process used to optimize academic performance, correction of exam stress and protection of students' health