PhD, Associate Professor O.V. Timofeeva¹
PhD, Associate Professor E.A. Milashechkina¹
Associate Professor A.D. Malchenko¹
Associate Professor Е.А. Kunitsina^1
1Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow

Keywords: female students, psycho-emotional states, wellbeing, activity, mood, anxiety, dance-driven gymnastics.

Background. Modern societies the world over are increasingly demanding to professional competency, mental and physical health for success. Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) is ranked among the leading Russian universities and provides its academic educational services to students from 155 countries of the world, with its foreign student population varying around 30% of the total. The university actively and traditionally contributes to the international communication of the world student population in every academic educational domain including the academic health and physical education service [5]. The PFUR service environment is particularly favourable for the foreign students as it is designed to respect the national/ ethnic and cultural traditions and makes facilitating provisions for their learning at the Russian university that offers many benefits versus their home educational service [4]. It is highly important for this student group to make success in the social adaptation and learning process with no detriment to physical and mental health. According to surveys of the PFUR student population, the jet lags, new climatic and weather conditions and language barrier are the most challenging for many foreign entrants. A mental and emotional balance of the beginner students at the Russian university largely depends on their mood, wellbeing, personality traits and adaptability, with the academic progress in the challenging new environment being dependent, among other things, on the individual stress tolerance and adaptation. This student group is also same vulnerable to the common stressors associated with high intellectual pressure associated with physical inactivity in the new environment in which they are exposed to multiple and heavy stressors with their emotional and nervous tension.

Modern dance-driven gymnastics practices are ranked among the most popular by academic youth groups, with their emotionally uplifting environments being of highly positive effects on the individuals exposed to new social environments and stressors, as verified by the growing interest in and satisfaction with the educational process. These practices are commonly acknowledged for their positive health effects, improvements in movement coordination and control, high aesthetic merits, plus emotional backgrounds, fun and good mood they generate, as emphasized by many researchers [3].

Objective of the study was to analyze benefits of the modern dance-driven gymnastics practices on the psycho-emotional states of foreign first-year female students.

Methods and structure of the study. Sampled for the study were 122 first-year female students including 68 Russian and 54 foreign students, with the Russian and foreign groups including body conditioning subgroups (BC, n=40 and n=31, respectively) and dance-driven gymnastics subgroups (DDG, n=28 and n=23, respectively). The studies were performed during the regular academic physical education sessions.

The psycho-emotional states of the beginner female students were rated by the standard WAM (wellbeing, activity and mood) questionnaire survey method; and the Spielberger version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) adapted by Y.I. Rogov (2008). Anxiety of the sample was rated by the STAI method prior to the academic studies; and then the students could opt for either body conditioning (BC) of dance-driven gymnastics (DDG) practices within the academic curriculum, with their progress tested at the end of the first semester. The WAM survey data were analyzed prior to and after the training session in the first weeks of September, October, November and December.

Study findings and discussion. The study data and analyses showed the following. The pre-training State Anxiety (SA) rates in the Russian and foreign groups were normal/ moderate and high, respectively; whilst the Trait Anxiety (TA) rates were tested high in both groups: see Table 1. It should be mentioned that the individuals with high TA rates are particularly sensitive to the situations when their image and self-esteem is in danger [2].

Table 1. PFUR female first-year students’ pre-training anxiety rates

In the first (early September) training sessions, the WAM survey rates were tested low in all the four subgroups, with no statistically significant intergroup differences (р>0.05), albeit it should be noted that the foreign subgroups were somewhat lower on every scale versus their Russian peers: see Table 2.

Table 2. Pre-training (early September) WAM survey rates of the body conditioning (BC) and dance-driven gymnastics (DDG) subgroups

The test data demonstrate that the beginner period in the new academic environment is a hard time both for the foreign and most of the Russian female group due to the resettlement, social adaptation challenges with their stresses, and the shortage of friends and social support – associated with an increased exposure to discomforts and fears. Foreign students in addition have to cope with jet lags, climatic conditions and language barrier. It should be mentioned that the post-class WAM survey data showed a modest progress – more expressed in the DDG subgroups.

At the next stage of the study, the groups were subject to the pre- and post-class WAM surveys as well (in the first weeks of October, November and December): see the average rates in Table 3 hereunder. A comparative analysis of the September versus December WAM survey data showed growth of the group self-rates. Having compared the pre- and post-class WAM survey data of the four subgroups, we found statistically insignificant intergroup differences prior to the trainings (р>0.05). The post-first-semester WAM survey rates of the foreign DDG subgroup showed a statistically significant progress in the Wellbeing and Activity rates (р<0.05-0.01). The Wellbeing rates in the Russian and foreign groups were tested to grow versus the pre-semester rates by 3.1 and 3.4 points; Activity rates by 2.9 and 3.5 points; and the Mood rates by 2.1 and 3.5 points, respectively. The BC subgroups were also tested with a moderate (albeit notably lower) progress.

Table 3. The post-first-semester WAM survey rates of the body conditioning (BC) and dance-driven gymnastics (DDG) subgroups

Note: *significant difference in the pre- versus post-class data

We believe that the highest progress made by the DDG subgroups is due to the versatile dance combinations to music customized to the national/ ethnic predispositions of the trainees. The foreign students also reported a special interest and determination in the elementary classical aerobics complemented/ modified by the popular dance elements. It is important that the foreign group enjoyed the kind and friendly support from their Russian peers in the dance mastering, language problems solving and the group recognition winning aspects.

As far as the post-first-semester anxiety rates in the Russian BC and DDG subgroups are concerned, it was found that the State Anxiety rates remained normal whilst the Trait Anxiety rates in the BC subgroup were somewhat above the norm: see Table 4. The foreign DDG subgroup made progress in the SA and TA rates – that were tested to fall down to the normal range. The progress is explainable by the positive nervous-stress-mitigating effects and improved self-control skills – versus the foreign BC subgroup that marked a regress in the TA rates that were tested to grow up for the training period.

Table 4. The post-first-semester State and Trait Anxiety rates of the body conditioning (BC) and dance-driven gymnastics (DDG) subgroups

Conclusion. The study data and analyses showed the dance-driven gymnastics (DDG) model and body conditioning (BC) practices being beneficial as verified by the foreign group’s progress in the WAM (wellbeing, activity and mood) survey rates on the whole, albeit the highest statistically significant (р<0.05-0.01) progress was made by the DDG subgroups. The DDG practices were also found beneficial for the anxiety conditions in the foreign group, with particularly expressed progress in the Trait Anxiety rates. It may be concluded, therefore, that the dance-driven gymnastics model is recommended for the initiatives to control and mitigate emotional stresses the foreign students face in the new challenging social environments including socio-economic conditions and new cultural and national surrounding upon resettlement for a fairly long study period.

The study was sponsored by PFUR “5-100” Program.

References

1. Milashechkina E.A. Vliyanie psikhofizicheskikh uprazhneniy na sostoyanie trevozhnosti u podrostkov 14 let [Effect of psychophysical exercises on state of anxiety in 14 year-olds]. Zdorovyesberegayushchee obrazovanie, 2014, no. 4, pp. 82-83.
2. Rogov E.I. Nastolnaya kniga prakticheskogo psikhologa. Sistema raboty psikhologa s detmi raznogo vozrasta. V 2 kn. Kn. 1 [Handbook of practical psychologist. psychologist's system of work with children of different ages. In 2 books. Book 1]. Moscow: Vlados-Press, 2008.
3. Timofeeva O.V. Povyshenie effektivnosti fizicheskogo vospitaniya studentok na osnove ispolzovaniya fizkulturno-pokazatelnykh vystupleniy. Avtoref. dis. kand. ped. nauk [Effectivization of physical education of female students basis on use of sports exhibition performances. PhD diss. abstract]. Moscow, 2010, 22 p.
4. Filippov V.M. Internatsionalizatsiya vysshego obrazovaniya: osnovnye tendentsii, problemy i perspektivy [Internationalization of higher education: main trends, problems and prospects]. Vestnik Rossiyskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Ser.Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 2015, no. 3, pp. 203-210. ISSN: 23113-0679.
5. Shulyatyev V.M., Timofeeva O.V. et al. Tantsevalnaya aerobika kak effektivnoe sredstvo internatsionalizatsii studentok v mezhdunarodno-orientirovannom universitete [Dance aerobics as effective method of internationalization of female students at internationally oriented university]. Uchenye zapiski un-ta im. P.F. Lesgafta, 2017, no, 2 (144), pp. 282-287.

Corresponding author: ea.milash@yandex.ru

Abstract

The study profiles and analyzes the psycho-emotional states of the foreign female first-year students of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (PFUR). Today the PFUR student population is 30% foreign coming from 155 countries. It is highly important for this student group to make success in the social adaptation and learning process with no detriment to health. As reported in some studies, modern dance-driven gymnastics practices in the emotionally uplifting environments may be of highly positive effects on the individuals exposed to new social environments and stressors, as verified by the growing interest in and satisfaction with the educational process. The tests applied in the dance-driven gymnastics training model under the study were as follows: standard WAM (wellbeing, activity and mood) questionnaire survey method; and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) method. The study data and analyses showed benefits of the tested dance-driven gymnastics training model as verified by the significant progress of the foreign female students versus their Russian peers in the WAM tests; with the psycho-emotional state improvements tested in both of the groups.