Gender and Regional Differences in Body Image Dissatisfaction in Modern University Students: A Pilot Study in Two Cities of Eastern Europe

Complex anthropological and psychological study of the university students was carried out in two regions (the cities of Moscow and Tiraspol) with the aim to reveal gender and regional differences of body image dissatisfaction and their connection with the body build. 502 individuals (187 males and 315 females) aged from 17 to 25 years were investigated. The program included anthropometric measurements (height and weight, with further calculation of Body Mass Index – BMI), evaluation of body mass components, as well as psychological testing with Stunkard’s silhouette scale and the Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria (SIBID). It was found that among the representatives of both sexes the level of dissatisfaction with their own body is relatively similar (69% of males and 67% of females). However the girls were mostly dissatisfied with their excessive, as they perceived, body mass (83% of the total number of dissatisfied individuals) while the boys were dissatisfied mostly because of their underweight (60% of the total number of dissatisfied individuals). Besides, the girls were more likely to exaggerate their weight while the boys perceived it as smaller than it really was. In girls certain social influences had more impact on body image dissatisfaction than in boys. Among the girls studied, the Muscovites were more critical to their own physical appearance, which resulted in lower self-assessment of their body image and, consequently, in less positive influence of this assessment on the quality of life compared to the girls from Tiraspol

Model-Based Analysis of Changes in the Morphological Characteristics of Moscow Students for the Last Two Decades

The aim of the paper is to develop a model of changes in morphological characteristics of young males and females body structure at the beginning of the 21st century. For this purpose the results of Moscow students’ annual screenings from 2000 to 2018 were analyzed (total number of 17–18-year-olds − 6,433 individuals). As a result, five factors describing the trends of changes were revealed and further analysis demonstrated variants of their values over time. An original model was developed, which reflected real morphological transformations in the body parameters of the young generation for the last 20 years. For both sex groups a trend towards macrosomia (gr. macros − big, soma- body) was revealed. For the boys some increase in linear traits was found with a decrease in muscularity. In girls, parabolic association between athletic characteristics and the year of investigation was found: the decrease in muscularity for the first decade, and its increase for the second one

Changes in the Anxiety of Moscow Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This work is devoted to assessing the changes in anxiety among Moscow students during the COVID-2019 pandemic. The material was collected in comprehensive examination of 18–25-year-old students studying at Lomonosov Moscow State University (residents of Moscow and the Moscow region). The study included longitudinal and cross-sectional components. The methodology included a social questionnaire about the peculiarities of the self-isolation regime, living conditions of the respondent, professional employment, etc. and the scale of situational and personal anxiety of C.D. Spielberger in the Russian-language adaptation of Yu.L. Khanin. A total of 284 questionnaires have been analyzed. In 2020, two consecutive waves of infection were recorded in Russia: in May and in December. During the first wave, severe social restrictions and a temporary lockdown were introduced in Moscow, and the second one took place under conditions of significantly less restrictions, although it was marked by a large number of infections. Different social load and adaptation to the pandemic led to the fact that the behavioral manifestations of stress and the level of situational anxiety among Moscow students increased significantly at the beginning of the pandemic, but subsequently began to decrease. It can be concluded that among university students there is a social and psychological adaptation to new norms of life, which are dictated by the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic