International Students of Russian Universities in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Anxiety and Psychoemotional State

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges for man and society: a radical transformation of ideas about the physical distance between interacting people, social isolation, distance education, and wearing masks. It is challenging to forecast the psychological consequences of the pandemic and how much society will be injured. The analysis of psychoemotional discomfort associated with social anxiety among students during the pandemic, taking into account the tension of the early dysfunctional personality schemes, has expanded the understanding of vulnerability mechanisms to violations of psychosocial functioning. The article analyzes the data from Internet surveys of foreign and Russian university students from several regions consistently conducted during 2020—2021 and synchronized with four pandemic waves. The methodological tools of the research consisted of a scale of social phobia, a scale for assessing social phobia, and a Young Schema Questionnaire. We found that quarantine restrictions (including physical distance) allow for avoiding the corrective experience of social interaction and can mask sustainable functional disorders associated with social anxiety, thereby strengthening effective behavioral and cognitive strategies. The study’s results expand the understanding of vulnerability mechanisms to violations of psychosocial functioning, maladaptation, and psychoemotional state. The data obtained will be helpful in the development of remote learning methods and psychological support measures for students to reduce the negative consequences of restrictions in the field of social interaction. 

Acknowledgments. The study was carried out within the RFBR grant No. 20-013-00445 “Socio-psychological adaptation of labor migrants in Russia: conditions, factors and mechanisms”.