COVID-19 PANDEMIC LIFESTYLE: STUDENTS MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To determine how quarantine restrictions affect the lifestyle of Ukrainian students, and their mental health. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: 37 student essays were submitted to the university contest held at Lviv Polytechnic University in May-June 2020. They were analyzed with the help of qualitative thematic analysis and standard qualitative analysis method. Essays are focused on a list of issues important for assessing the social well-being of students during quarantine. Each fragment of essay's answer was coded into the data matrix system according to either multiple or single themes, built in the statements. The thematic analysis identified several categories that determine students' attitude to the pandemic situation and its consequences for them. RESULTS: Results: It is determined that students' lifestyle, including study and leisure, has changed significantly, which has affected their mental health. Learning online provoked a number of emotional disorders. At the same time, the desire for communication in person and self-improvement increased. «Quarantine lessons¼ were divided into categories: challenges, threats and opportunities. Threats and challenges were considered at the global level, while opportunities affected rather the personal level. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: Mental health of students disorders: anxiety, restlessness, fear, self-doubt, feelings of loneliness, panic, sleep disturbances, and increased fatigue indicate the negative effects of the pandemic. At the same time, recording such facts as the feeling of satisfaction from communication with loved ones, the ability to help them, the desire for self-improvement, etc. allows to say about the positive effects.

MOTIVATION FOR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTIONS BY ADULTS: TRADITIONS OR AN ATTEMPT TO SOLVE MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS (EXEMPLIFIED BY THE CITY OF LVIV AND LVIV REGION, UKRAINE).

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To clarify motivation trends of alcohol consumption by adults in the city of Lviv and Lviv region and their mental health risk factors as compared to the specificity of motivation for alcohol consumption by the representatives of other European countries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The study is based on the data of the representative survey of Lviv region residents (1,200 persons) following the methodology RARHA adjusted for Ukraine and its statistical processing. RESULTS: Results: The results of the study point to the prevalence of social and recreational, traditional motives for alcohol consumption by Lviv region residents (consumption during solemn ceremonies and celebrations). Extremely important, as compared to other European countries, are social motives (the sense of belonging to an important social group). The importance of social factors for the respondents decreases a bit with age and considerably depends on the specific features of religious practices. A wide-spread motive is the striving for changing the emotional state, combined with higher abuse risk as compared to the people who drink on social occasions. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The results of the study characterize the specificity of the motivational structure of alcohol consumption by Ukrainians as compared to the general European trends and can be used for the development of targeted regional prevention programs.