The choice of psychological defense mechanisms by students of a medical university with a different level of adaptation

The paper discusses the mechanisms of psychological protection that students with a different level of adaptation at a medical university choose. The level of their adaptability is of great importance for student performance and, therefore, for the level of professionalism of future specialists. The study was conducted among first-year students on the basis of the voluntary consent of the subjects in compliance with bioethical norms. Adaptability was determined using the questionnaire “Adaptation of students in high school” by T.D. Dubrovitskaya. Two groups of students were identified - with a high and low level of adaptability. The use of the psychological defense mechanisms questionnaire “Life Style Index” showed significant differences in the preferred psychological defense mechanisms for two groups of students: students with a high level of adaptability use intellectualization and compensation mechanisms more intensively, while students with a low level of adaptation prefer mechanisms of suppression, regression and projection. It is concluded that the mechanisms of intellectualization and compensation are more effective for the adaptation of students in a medical university.