Psychophysiological Characteristics of Medical Faculty Students in the Pre-Exam Stress Period and Possibilities for Correcting the Identified Changes

The period of pre-exam stress places increased demands on the adaptive reserves of students' bodies, and it is crucial for them to effectively cope with the stressful situation; however, this problem has not been fully studied. Objective: To determine and compare the psychological personality characteristics of medical faculty students during the pre-exam period before and after psychological correction of the identified psychophysiological changes to reduce the risk of developing neuroses and psychosomatic diseases. To achieve this goal, using tests: the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the Spielberger-Khanin State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for assessing anxiety levels, and the S. Subbotin Stress Tolerance Diagnostic Method, 44 medical faculty students (male and female), with an average age of 21,1 (20.0; 21.2) years, were examined. After the initial psychological assessment, correction of the identified changes was carried out in a randomly selected group of students. Subsequently, repeated testing was conducted, revealing positive dynamics in the levels of alexithymia, anxiety, and stress tolerance in the observed group. Thus, to reduce the risk of developing neuroses and psychosomatic diseases, medical students during the pre-exam and exam periods would benefit from active psychological support (psychodiagnostics followed by correction of the established changes).