Some aspects of self-preservation behavior of students during the coronavirus pandemic

Sterliadeva Natalia PhD in Sociology Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Conflictology, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Altai State University" 656049, Russia, Altai Krai, Barnaul, 66 Dimitrova str., office 520 656049, Russia, Altaiskii krai, g. Barnaul, ul. Ul. Dimitrova, 66, kab. 520 sterlyadeva@socio.asu.ru Other publications by this author

Chukanova Tat'yana Viktorovna PhD in Sociology Associate Professor, Department of Social and Youth Policy, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Altai State University" 656049, Russia, Altai Krai, Barnaul, 66 Dimitrova str., office 504 656049, Russia, Altaiskii krai, g. Barnaul, ul. Dimitrova, 66, of. 504 chukanova.64@mail.ru

Health is one of the most important needs of a person, determining his abilities for any activity. According to the researchers, health is the main value of human life, it occupies the highest step in the hierarchy of human needs ^[3].

 To a certain extent, health depends on a person's personal responsibility for its preservation. Lifestyle is an essential factor in the preservation and development of health, which shows how the daily life of social groups, society or an individual is organized.

The health of the population is recognized as a strategic potential and a factor of national security of the country, and the promotion and cultivation of a healthy lifestyle become a priority state task and the task of the whole society ^[1].

The value of health becomes not only human, personally significant, but also social capital, without which it is impossible to achieve high indicators of social development, as well as ensuring the national security of the state ^[8].

Self-preserving behavior and a healthy lifestyle are closely related, as they contribute to the strengthening and preservation of health, but they are not identical ^[7].  

A healthy lifestyle can be defined as behavior aimed at preserving and developing human health. Self-preserving behavior is conditioned by the socio-economic, political conditions of the place of residence, the patterns, stereotypes of behavior, norms, values of society and a particular person, his way of life.

 Self-preserving behavior is defined as "a system of actions and relationships mediating the health and life expectancy of an individual" ^{[2, p. 15]}.

According to I.B. Nazarova, "self–preserving behavior is not only a timely request for qualified help, but also a certain lifestyle involving active physical education, quitting smoking and alcohol, regular preventive monitoring" ^[6].

Self-preserving behavior can be considered "as the willingness of each member of society to be responsible for preserving their own health and prolonging life" ^[8].

According to A.I. Fedorov, a person's attitude to health can be characterized by the following indicators: assessment (self-assessment) of health, medical and hygienic awareness (knowledge in the field of health), values in the field of health, human activity to preserve their health ^{[9, p. 91]}.

The subjective assessment of one's health reflects to a certain extent an objective characteristic of health. It also allows you to get information about the health status of people who do not go to the doctor, which means that in this case there are no medical studies. In addition, taking into account the subjective assessment of their health, it is possible to predict the behavior of people who belong to the risk group. In general, self-assessment of one's health is related to an individual's self-assessment of himself and his capabilities.

The result of the self-preserving behavior of the population is a certain level of health and life expectancy. Human behavior in relation to his health is the most important factor influencing his physical and mental state, since under similar environmental, genetic and household conditions, physical well-being is due to this factor ^{[5, p. 141]}.

As the researchers note, being the most important characteristic of social well-being, an individual's assessment of their own health also becomes one of the criteria for the degree of adaptation of an individual ^[4].

As part of an empirical study conducted in Barnaul, the features of self-preservation behavior of student youth during the spread of the coronavirus pandemic were studied. 120 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students of the Institute of Humanities of Altai State University took part in the questionnaire survey. The analysis of this study showed the following results.

According to the study, the majority of respondents (61%) consider their health to be good, slightly more than a third (35%) – satisfactory, only 7% - poor, the rest of the survey participants cannot determine their level of health. At the same time, only 21% of respondents take care of their health all the time. When defining health as a value, the following results were obtained: 33% of the survey participants consider health to be the main value in life, while they are ready to take care of it. Almost half of the respondents (46%) noted that "health is important, but it is not always possible to take care of it." The majority of students (72%) believe that health depends on themselves. At the same time, slightly less than a third of respondents (29%) have changed their attitude to health during the coronavirus pandemic, consider it a real threat to their own health. More than half of respondents (52%) are afraid for the health of their relatives and friends (especially the elderly). Some of the respondents (12%) are convinced that the new coronavirus infection will not harm either themselves or their loved ones.

Awareness of the value of health does not guarantee its preservation and strengthening. It is necessary that in the motivational sphere of the personality there are attitudes to self-preserving behavior. The consequence of positive personal motivation and willingness to lead a healthy lifestyle can only be certain actions. In this regard, in the course of the study, an attempt was made to identify the attitudes of students to self-preservation behavior. One of the components of a healthy lifestyle as the basis of self-preservation behavior is physical education and sports. Despite the fact that the majority of students surveyed agree with this (86%), only 18% of respondents regularly exercise, and only 6% of students perform physical exercises and morning exercises. At the same time, it should be noted that some of the respondents (31%) are still fond of various sports, they sometimes do them, and there is not enough time or money for regular classes. Most of the respondents (59%) walk in the fresh air to maintain their health and attend physical education classes at the university. In general, the data obtained indicate insufficient physical activity of students.

A significant part of the student youth (86%) spoke in favor of giving up bad habits. Since they believe that the absence of bad habits is a necessary component of self–preservation behavior. But at the same time, according to a third of respondents (31%), alcohol and cigarettes are sometimes acceptable.

The most important component of self-preservation behavior is proper nutrition. More than half of the respondents (53%) monitor their diet, follow the recommendations on healthy eating, try not to eat unhealthy and high-calorie foods (fast food, carbonated drinks). Most of the respondents (67%) eat fruits and vegetables, 13% of students try to take vitamins. But in general, the study showed that the intention to preserve health is not the main motive of eating behavior. Some of the respondents who follow the diet (19%) do it out of a desire to keep a figure or lose weight, and also follow fashion. Almost a third of respondents (29%) noted that high-quality healthy food is not available to them by income.

The results obtained only confirm the conclusions of a number of researchers that "the reasons for the passive behavior of students to preserve and restore health are seen in a low health culture, a lack of skills and abilities to lead a healthy lifestyle. Without rejecting the importance of a healthy lifestyle, students question its necessity during the student period of life" ^[10].

In the course of the study, some behavioral attitudes of student youth were identified during the spread of a new coronavirus infection. In general, the majority of respondents (69%) have a positive attitude to anti-weed measures carried out by the authorities. However, there is no consensus among students about the measures taken to combat the pandemic. Thus, the majority of respondents (79%) observe the rules of personal hygiene: they wash their hands with soap, use antiseptics, but only 19% regularly wear masks. Most of the students (73%) consider them useless. Only 6% of respondents try to keep a social distance. 14% of respondents do not take any measures. 38% of respondents oppose the introduction of QR codes, almost a third of respondents (29%) consider the introduction of QR codes to be a necessary means of preventing the epidemic, 24% of students - for their introduction only in certain places and during the peak of the pandemic.

When identifying the intentions of students to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the following results were obtained. Only a small part of respondents (12%) were vaccinated at the time of the survey. For the majority of vaccinated students (78%), vaccination is a fairly effective means of protection against coronavirus. The rest (22%) did it due to forced circumstances, among which were named "parents insisted", "a trip on vacation or to another city", "the introduction of QR codes necessary to visit public places". In general, according to 73% of respondents, whether or not to vaccinate is a personal matter for everyone.

Among those who were not vaccinated at the time of the survey, 14% believe that vaccination against COVID-19 does not bring any benefit and harm. At the same time, they expressed their intention to be vaccinated in the event that it will also be required in the future to attend mass events or travel. Some respondents (6%) have already had coronavirus, half of them (52%) plan to be vaccinated after the fall of antibodies, and 40% believe that they were slightly ill and will not be vaccinated in the future, the rest (8%) have not yet decided.  When identifying the reasons for refusing vaccination, the following results were obtained: 19% of respondents do not plan to get vaccinated, as they believe that this will harm their health, if not now, then in the future ("vaccination can affect reproductive function, negatively affect DNA"). Also among the reasons for refusing vaccination were distrust of the vaccine ("the unexplored nature of this vaccine, - years of testing are needed", "the virus mutates, - the vaccine will not help", 11%); satisfaction with their health ("strong immunity", 8%); the presence of chronic diseases, including allergic (7%); fear of symptomatic manifestations of vaccination (5%). In general, students oppose the introduction of mandatory vaccination in higher education institutions. According to the majority of respondents (88%), vaccination should be voluntary.

In addition to the behavioral attitudes described above, the study attempted to find out whether the coronavirus pandemic had any effect on certain aspects of the self-preservation behavior of students. Only a small part of the respondents (28%) tried to change their habits in order to increase immunity. Respondents named the following health-saving measures: they stopped self-medicating (they go to the doctor at the first signs of illness); increased physical activity; began to spend more time outdoors, including walking without using public transport; changed their diet; began to use vitamins and preventive medications; reduced alcohol and cigarettes consumption.

The results of the study indicate that one of the functions of the university in modern realities should be the work on changing the behavior of young people in relation to their own health.