Psychological First Aid: Experience of International Organizations

The turbulent shocks of recent decades—man-made and natural disasters, political instability, pandemics, and military conflicts—highlight the need for psychosocial support for victims. To plan and train those who can provide it, a number of guidelines have been developed at the global and national levels, within international medical organizations that can minimize the impact of the crisis and start the recovery process. The article presents the definition of the concept of Psychological First Aid (PFA), describes the key aspects, structure, time limits, and principles of activity; a description of three leading models of first psychological assistance in the context of international medical organizations: the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), and the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness, USA. The RAPID model of first aid and key competencies for psychosocial workers involved in helping victims are described. The principles and techniques of PFA meet four basic standards: they are based on the results of research of risks and resilience after injury; they are practical and suitable for use in the “field”; they meet the age characteristics of development; they take into account cultural differences. The chronogram of mental reactions to a stressful event and the provision of PFA to victims within international medical organizations is divided into four phases which should be taken into account in the organization of psychosocial support. The RAPID model is based on five aspects designed to alleviate acute stress: Rapport and Reflective listening; Assessment of needs; Prioritization; Intervention; Disposition. If control over bodily reactions, emotions, and thoughts in the victims are restored, the narrative of the event is completed and accompanied by appropriate reactions, emotions are accepted, self-esteem and self-confidence are restored, and a sense of the future appears, we can say that the person has successfully adapted to the traumatic event and is ready to move on.

Deformations of the Image of the World of Youth in the Process of Socialization

The article analyzes psychological peculiarities of the image of the world and personal manifestations of the character of students with different forms of behaviour disorders. The types of image of the world and the personal traits of the character are analyzed. The peculiarities of the worldview of schoolchildren with aggression, autoaggression, overpriced hobbies, and emotional disorders are revealed. The influence of the image of the world on defects of the self-image and behaviour disturbance is established. The influence of a negative emotional background of the image of the world on the formation of dependent forms of behaviour is determined. It has been proven that the psychological correction of students with adaptation problems should include programs to stimulate a positive experience of the world and to restore an internal equilibrium. The directions of further exploration of the problems of psychology of addictive behaviours are outlined.During puberty, significant behavioral abnormalities may occur in children. With timely psychological and pedagogical intervention, destructive manifestations are situational or episodic. If parents and pedagogues do not resort to psychological correction, negative models of interaction between the teenager and the world become unlikely to overturn, and the troublesome behaviour becomes irreversible.The results of the study of the image of the world and the personal traits of students with different behavioral abnormalities are presented in this article.For example, it has been found that the adolescents’ use of profanity in communication with peers is caused solely by mechanisms of imitation and identification of the image of the world inherent in their family or social environment. In other words, there is a negative stimulation of the development of the image of the world of the child, the outward manifestation of aggressive behaviour. This, in turn, testifies to emotional-volitional instability and accentuation of character. Thus, the teenager demonstrates his/her “adulthood”.The article analyzes the causes of different types of addictive behaviour of young people: tobacco, gaming, computer, and more.Psychological correction in such cases should be aimed at establishing a dynamic equilibrium of the system “Image of the world – image of I”. That is, the child’s consciousness tries to adapt to the external conditions of being in a certain space, and this affects his/her behaviour. Under these conditions, responses may differ from generally accepted social norms.Stimulating self-development of the person and helping the teenager to form a realistic, content-rich worldview will positively affect the development of personal reflection and rethinking of one’s self-image.

Interconnection Between the Level of Resilience and Professional Success of HR Specialists

The article presents the results of theoretical and empirical analyses of the interconnection between the resilience level and professional success of HR specialists. The specifics of the psychological phenomenon of resilience, its classifications and factors of influence are studied. The concept of professional success is analyzed and its components are determined.The study was conducted by using the method of “Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale” (CD-RISC), “SACS Questionnaire (S. Hobfoll)”, and “Scale of Protective Factors” method. The following attributes were measured: interconnection between the level of resilience and professional success of HR specialists, protective factors that contribute to increasing the resilience level, leading models of coping behavior of specialists, and the index of constructiveness.During the empirical research, respondents were classified by grade groups, according to the level of position in the company, which indicates the level of specialists’ success: Director/Head of Section, Team Leader, Senior, Middle, Junior. Methodological tools for studying the level of resilience of HR specialists were developed. The results of the research show that there is a connection between the level of resilience and professional success identified among the respondents of managing positions. The grade group with the highest results score of resilience level belongs to Team Leaders, while the representatives of Director/Head of Section group hold second position. Regarding the factors that protect against stress and help to increase the resilience level of grade groups members, we considered social and cognitive factors. Director/Head of Section and Team Leader groups receive resources from the social environment and strong relationships with friends and family, while the Middle group prefers the cognitive factor, and the Junior and Senior groups rely almost equally on both factors. All groups preferred the prosocial model of the coping strategy. According to the results of empirical research, we found out that the level of resilience has a greater impact on the professional success of a specialist than the age, previous experience, and duration of work in the company.

Peculiarities of Professional Self-Determination of Students

The article addresses the problem of professional self-determination of university students; describes the main approaches to the concept of professional self-determination, its components and stages; analyzes the experience of professional self-determination of international student, and highlights the key trends and practices that can be used in Ukrainian universities; and investigates interrelations between professional self-determination and professional identity.The results show that such indicators of professional self-determination as Autonomy, Decision-making, and Planning have an average degree of severity. But the Information scale was the lowest one. It indicates the need for organizing additional information activities and courses. Also, a strong relationship was found between Autonomy, Decision-making, Planning skills, and the formation of professional identity. It emphasizes the importance of developing these components in an integrative way. The research reveals that the main status of professional identity among students is the moratorium (crisis of choice). It indicates that most students are undecided and looking for professional trajectories, options of career development, and they need additional support in this area. Also, most students have an average subjective control level. We can conclude that they are ready to make decisions, with additional support and coaching.As a result of the analysis of the experience of international students, the following practices that can help to promote professional self-determination: a separate course “Marketing Yourself”; a task to create MindMap of yourself (about interests, dreams, aspirations, fears and doubts); career centres that regularly organize lectures; resume and interview workshops; and writing reflections after every course.

Problems of Forming Psychological and Management Competence of Network Leaders in MLM

This article is a theoretical study of problems related to the formation of psychological competence of network leaders regarding management interaction and optimization of the management process in modern Ukrainian network marketing companies (MLM) in order to achieve maximum efficiency of management in networks under market economy. In this article authors went over the main requirements for founders (leaders) regarding their ability to lead. It is stated that at the start the leaders of MLM companies require neither in-depth knowledge nor special qualifications in order to work, as they are able to learn while working. However, as the company grows and the leaders gather their team of employees, requirements for a leader’s both professional and psychological competence change. This study indicates that it is beneficial for the company if leaders not only study and learn themselves but teach their team as well.The authors state that there are a number of problems in the formation of psychological and managerial competences of MLM leaders and managers. This mainly refers to management interaction and optimization of the management process in modern Ukrainian network marketing companies. A significant part of these problems is based on the specifics of network marketing as a type of business activity in the domestic field. Another part is a consequence of the unpreparedness of MLM leaders and managers for change and development, and their overall resistance to innovation, despite a significant amount of new opportunities (webinars, Internet conferences, online courses and trainings, etc.) that appeared with the development of public communications, and which are also, unfortunately, not fully used and not by all network leaders.Solving those problems, at least partially, will ensure growth in both professional and psychological competences, which, in turn, would be beneficial for the further development and improvement of MLM companies in Ukraine.

Theoretical Analysis of the Possibility to Incorporate Animal-Assisted Interventions into Psychosocial Service for Elderly People in Geriatric Centers

The article contains a theoretical overview of the bases of animal-assisted interventions within the structure of psychosocial service for elderly people in geriatric centers. It also contains analysis of the main theories that explain the impact of animal-assisted interventions on the emotional state in humans, as well as the opportunities to incorporate such an approach in various types of psychosocial work. The article contains a thorough summary of the recent research papers on the use of animal-assisted interventions in educational and therapeutic work with elderly people in geriatric centers. The conclusion of the theoretical overview is that among the analyzed theories that explain the effect of animal-assisted interventions, the most scientifically grounded is the physiological theory, according to which the human brain produces a range of neurotransmitters that activate pleasurable emotional experience during human-animal interaction. Generally, the review of scientific articles has allowed us to discover the benefits of animal-assisted interventions in various human service fields, including occupational therapy, psychotherapy, counseling, and social service. In this view, there are various skills that can be supported for development when working with elderly people in geriatric centers, such as the following:1. Physical skills, including handling a wheelchair and the body balance.2. Psychological skills, including individual and group communication and interaction, self-esteem, leisure and recreation, attention, decrease of the subjective sense of loneliness, short- and long-term memory.3. Motivation, including interaction with staff members, exercise of goal-making.

А Sense of Guilt in the Blaming Context of the Assessment of Interethnic Relations

The article highlights the results of an empirical study aimed at updating the accusatory context of assessing the relations of Ukrainians with neighboring nations and shows the place in this process of sense of guilt compared to a number of other personal traits.1,356 students in 26 universities from 19 cities of Ukraine were interviewed online.The questionnaire was developed in three versions. The first part in all versions consisted of indicators of the sense of guilt, internality in the field of failure, psychological inclination towards poverty, and verbal aggression. The second part of the questionnaire had three versions, each of which contained nine statements that showed an assessment of Ukrainians’ relations with neighboring nations. These statements were modelled on the measure for identification with all mankind (McFarland et al., 2012), but reformulated as extrapunitive regarding Ukrainians; intropunitive in relation to them; and impunitive, neutral to all.Among the studied psychological traits, the sense of guilt was the most sensitive to the assessment of interethnic relations. The intropunitive orientation of the evaluations showed the strongest connection with the studied traits. Depending on the context of assessing the interethnic relations, the sense of guilt may lead to accusations of one’s own ethnic community, or to accusations against other ethnic groups, or to avoiding direct accusations and choosing neutral assessments.Internality in the area of failure has been positively associated with extrapunitive and intropunitive evaluations, but there has been no connection with impunitive evaluations. The high level of inclination towards poverty corresponds to a decrease in extrapunitive tendencies; on the other hand, middle-level people are inclined to intropunitive assessments. Verbal aggression has the lowest association with assessments of interethnic relations.

The Phenomenon of Resilience in the Context of Socio-Ecological Approach and Discourse

The article provides a brief overview of resilience research and presents the main issues and problems in this field of science. Particular attention is paid to the issues of determining resilience by various researcher and the analysis of debatable issues in understanding this phenomenon. A more detailed analysis is provided regarding the views of authors who interpret resilience in the context of socio-ecological approach. There is a large body of empirical research on the resilience of children and adults, as well as social groups, in the context of the impact of various risk factors, stress and trauma, which allowed researchers to form insights into protective factors and assets that are powerful adaptation resources in difficult situations. The formation of the field of psychology aimed at the development of resilience as a holistic direction requires the definition of common theoretical and methodological foundations for its determination and construction of empirical procedures for its study in the context of different challenges and different cultures. Systemic and socio-environmental approaches can be distinguished among modern approaches to the definition and understanding of resilience. In the context of these approaches, resilience appears as a phenomenon and the process of interaction of internal and external factors, which is carried out under the determining influence of environmental factors. The environment contains the resources needed by people and groups, forms an idea of the effects of positive development and coping through the discourses it creates, and also regulates people’s access to these resources. The resilience considered in this way is not so much the property and the result of individual’s efforts (although this factor is important) as a manifestation of the ability of the social environment and social support networks to provide resources whose importance is recognized by culture.

Age as a Differential-Psychological Factor of the Axiopsychological Design of Life Personal Achievements

The paper considers the concept of “chronological age”, approaches to its understanding, and features of use. The leading psychological characteristics of the period of adulthood – early, middle, and late – are outlined. It is noted that the period of adulthood (or maturity) is the longest phase of ontogenesis (in developed countries it is 3⁄4 of the human life), which tends to achieve the highest development of physical, intellectual, and spiritual abilities of the individual. Signs of adulthood are given, namely: other nature of development, less related to physical growth and rapid cognitive improvement; the ability to react, respond to changes, and successfully adapt to new conditions, constructively resolve contradictions and difficulties; overcoming addiction and the ability to take responsibility for oneself and others; certain character traits (firmness, moderation, reliability, honesty, ability to empathize, etc.); social and cultural guidelines (roles, relationships, etc.) for the success and timeliness of development in adulthood.The hypothesis about the influence of the age category on the course of axiopsychological projection of life achievements of an individual in the period of adulthood – early, middle, and late – is tested and confirmed.It was stated that the study involved 239 people, of whom 90 (38 %) were respondents of early adulthood – students of 4-5 courses majoring in “Primary Education”, 86 (36 %) – respondents of secondary, and 63 (26 %) – late adults – primary school teachers working in general secondary education institutions of Chernivtsi and Chernivtsi region.Based on the results of the empirical study, differences in the determinants of the axiopsychological design of life achievements of the individual by age were established. It was found that respondents of late adulthood better assess their psychological age in contrast to their younger colleagues – representatives of early and middle adulthood; they are also distinguished by a better indicator of subjective life, they are more optimistic, seek new knowledge, have a higher level of self-esteem and social self-efficacy, and better build a strategy of their own lives. The regularity is revealed: from the period of middle to the period of late adulthood, instrumental-subjective abilities acquire special significance in axiopsychological projection of life achievements of the person.