CORRECTION OF WOMEN’S PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL STATE BY MEANS OF HEALTH-ENHANCING FITNESS IN RECREATIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

The article characterizes the possibilities of correcting women’s psycho-emotional state by means of health-enhancing fitness within recreational motor activity. It is noted that the purpose of the study was to examine the impact of health-enhancing fitness classes using yogic practices on the psycho-emotional state and social activity of women in wartime conditions.

The paper states that, in order to achieve this goal, a set of interrelated research methods was used, including the assessment of situational and trait anxiety according to the Spielberger–Khanin method, monitoring of women’s psycho-emotional state through a “diary-questionnaire,” as well as statistical processing and analysis of the obtained results. It is noted that the empirical basis of the study consisted of 117 women aged 35–57, who were divided into three subgroups: SG No. 1 – women who attended in-person classes; SG No. 2 – women who participated in online classes in Ukraine; SG No. 3 – women who participated in online classes abroad.

The scientific novelty of the study is substantiated by the implementation of an integrated approach that combines health-enhancing fitness tools, in particular yogic practices, with diary-based methods aimed at increasing conscious control, self-observation, and correction of the psycho-emotional sphere of women in crisis conditions.

The study results analyze the initial indicators of women’s mental health and establish that they were under significant influence of stress factors, which caused a high level of anxiety and emotional destabilization in 100% of the respondents. It was confirmed that repeated psychological testing and monitoring with the help of the “diary-questionnaire” made it possible to identify the relationship between the components of mental health and the level of anxiety. It was found that improvements in the indicators of “motor activity” and “public, volunteer initiative” in the first and second subgroups by 31.6% and 11.7% respectively, as well as an increase in the indicator of “communication with friends” up to 14.6%, had a positive effect on reducing situational anxiety levels, particularly the moderate level: in SG No. 1 – by 23.1%, in SG No. 2 – by 12.2%, in SG No. 3 – by 1.9%, and also contributed to the improvement of the cognitive component of mental health.

The conclusions substantiate the expediency of using health-enhancing fitness tools in recreational motor activity as an effective factor in self-correction of emotional exhaustion, reduction of anxiety levels, and maintenance of women’s inner balance under conditions of increased social tension.