Abramov R. N., Abramova N. V. Assessment of factors affecting the socio-psychological well-being of students during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Sociology, 2024, vol. 17, iss. 4, pp. 473–485. EDN YCMQKX (In Russian)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically and profoundly affected the lives and daily lives of the entire population of the country, including students. Russian students, as well as students from other countries, were transferred to distance learning using various digital platforms in fast and furious mode. During lockdown periods, access to student campuses and dormitories was closed or severely restricted. Changing learning conditions led to disruptions in the learning process. The article focuses on the conceptualization of the contribution of various components to the subjective socio-psychological well-being of students during the pandemic. Three blocks of elements that make up socio-psychological well-being are analyzed: personal, social and technical factors. Special attention in the analysis is paid to the first block. The institutional educational environment was also analyzed. The personal block includes the ability to self-organize, self-confidence, motivation to achieve results and general emotional stability. The technological block includes technical literacy, the level of technical equipment. The social block includes family support, integration into the learning community. Self-organization was determined by the test "Diagnostics of self-organization features" The article is based on the author's empirical research, including a survey of students. The results show the importance of almost all the indicators mentioned in the survey (with the exception of self-esteem and emotional flexibility) for the subjective psychological well-being of students. In the situation of switching to distance education, self-organization skills turned out to be critically important, since the visible pressure of the institutional environment due to being in the university space, where many results were achieved by themselves, in the student body, decreased. An important component of the level of technical equipment was the quality of Internet communication, especially for residents of small towns and geographically remote territories, which increased the degree of digital inequality in access to the educational process for students who were in cities and towns with low Internet quality.