Level of stress and somatic health in female law enforcement officers during their training for professional activities

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to investigate the stress level and somatic health among female cadets during health-promoting fitness training sessions in the course of their academic training. Materials and methods. The research, conducted in the 2022–2025 years, involved 149 female cadets from the National Academy of Internal Affairs (NAIA, Kyiv, Ukraine) majoring in «Law» specialty. To achieve the research aim, we compared the stress level and somatic health in female cadets aged 17–20 who, during their 1st and 2nd training years, participated in health-promoting fitness training sessions with those of female cadets who participated in other types of motor activity. Research methods: analysis and generalization of literary sources, psychodiagnostic methods, biomedical methods, statistical analysis. To study the stress levels of female cadets, we used the methodology developed by Yu. V. Shcherbatykh, which allows assessing the degree of intellectual, behavioral, emotional, and physiological symptoms of stress. To assess the somatic health of female cadets, the methodology of G. L. Apanasenko was employed, which is based on anthropometric indicators and the status of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Results. The effectiveness of health-promoting fitness training sessions and other forms of motor activity in preventing stress and strengthening somatic health among female cadets during their academic training under martial law has been established. It has been shown that additional health-promoting fitness training sessions and other forms of motor activity have a more positive effect on stress levels, body mass index, strength index, vitality index, Robinson index, and heart rate recovery in female cadets, and, accordingly, on their somatic health, than traditional methods. During the additional training sessions, female cadets showed improvement in the performance of their respiratory, cardiovascular, and muscular systems, as well as a decrease in body weight. The most pronounced changes occurred among participants in health-promoting fitness, athletics, orienteering, martial arts, and sports competitions. Conclusions. The results of the research justify the establishment of sports clubs within higher educational institutions to expand the provision of additional motor activity training sessions selected by female cadets, thereby improving both the mental and physical health indicators of future female law enforcement officers. Overall, this will ensure the effectiveness of their future law enforcement activities.