Socio-psychological predictors of the development of maladjustment in foreign students of the English language

Abstract

The process of adaptation of higher education students is one of the pressing problems of modern society, as it directly affects academic success, personal development and the formation of a positive attitude towards the chosen profession of a future specialist. The purpose of the study: to investigate the socio-psychological predictors of maladjustment in foreign students of English-language education. A comprehensive clinical-psychological, clinical-anamnestic and psychodiagnostic examination of 372 international English-speaking students (223 men and 149 women with an average age of [19±3] years) of I–VI courses of the Kharkiv National Medical University was conducted. All subjects will be divided into three groups: Group I – 194 students from India; Group II – 96 students from Asia (Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria); Group III – 82 students from Africa (Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Namibia, Israel). As a result of the study, a high level of psychological maladjustment was observed in 2.1% of students of the first group, 1.3% of students of the second group, and 2.9% of students of the third group; the expressed level of maladaptation – in 6.1%, 11.5% and 12.6%, respectively; moderate level of maladjustment – in 25.1% of students of the first group, 26.2% of the second group and 31.3% of students of the third group; an insignificant level in 31.5%, 33.9% and 35.1% of students, respectively. 35.2% of students of the first group, 27.1% of students of the second group and 18.1% of students of the third group did not show any signs of psychological maladjustment. The clinical and psychological structure of maladaptive states was represented by astheno-depressive, hypersthesic, anxious and dysphoric syndromes. It is known that an integral component of psychological maladaptation states is a violation of academic adaptation. The examined students felt their own low academic performance and insignificant educational achievements. We came to the conclusion that the formation of adjustment disorders in international English-speaking students is characterized by multifactorial conditioning and closely related social and psychological factors, which determines the specificity of the manifestations of maladaptive reactions and states.

Keywords: adaptation mechanisms, manifestations of maladjustment, adjustment disorders.