Traumatic stress causes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is associated with cardiovascular diseases and risk of sudden cardiac death in some subjects. We compared effects of predator stress (PS, cat urine scent, 10 days) on mechanisms of cardiac injury and protection in experimental PTSD-vulnerable (PTSD) and -resistant (PTSDr) rats. 14-days post-stress, rats were evaluated with an elevated plus-maze test, and assigned to PTSD and PTSDr groups according to an anxiety index calculated from the test results. Cardiac injury was evaluated by: 1) Exercise tolerance; 2) ECG; 3) Myocardial histomorphology; 4) Oxidative stress; 5) Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Myocardial heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) was also measured. Experimental PTSD developed in 40% of rats exposed to PS. Exercise tolerance of PTSD rats was 25% less than control rats and 21% less than PTSDr rats. ECG QRS, QT, and OTc intervals were longer in PTSD rats than in control and PTSDr rats. Only cardiomyocytes of PTSD rats had histomorphological signs of metabolic and hypoxic injury and impaired contractility. Oxidative stress markers were higher in PTSD than PTSDr rats. Pro-inflammatory IL-6 was higher in PTSD rats than in control and PTSDr rats, and anti-inflammatory IL-4 was lower in PTSD than in control and PTSDr rats. Myocardial HSP70 was lower in PTSD rats than PTSDr and control rats. Conclusion: Rats with PTSD developed multiple signs of cardiac injury. PTSDr rats were resistant also to cardiac injury. Factors that limit cardiac damage in PS rats include reduced inflammation and oxidative stress and increased protective HSP70.

The study provides insights into the aspects of creativity, the structure of psychometric intelligence, and personal adaptation resources of senior preschool children. Creativity and intelligence are presented as general adaptation resources. Existing studies of creative ability and creativity as integral individual characteristics in the context of adaptation are analyzed. The aim is to identify varied sets of creativity and personal adaptation resource markers that differentiate groups of children in order to determine possible strategies for adaptation, preservation, and development of their creative abilities at the beginning of lyceum schooling. It embraces the use of the E. Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) (figural version), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the G. Rorschach Test. A sample of the study consisted of 122 children, aged 6-7 and enrolled in a school. The average IQ score among the children was above 115 (M = 133.7, σ = 9.9). The entire sample was divided into four groups by the originality-elaboration ratio according to the TTCT. The correctness of the children's division into the groups according to the markers of creativity and personal adaptation resources is confirmed by the discriminant analysis. We have identified the factor structure of creativity, intelligence, and personal adaptation resources in the entire sample of children and in each of the groups. In the group of preschoolers with high originality and elaboration, the resulting structure integrated the components of creativity with personal adaptation resources and intelligence scores. In the group of children with a low level of originality and elaboration, the markers of creativity, intelligence, and personal adaptation resources are not interlinked.

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The urgency of the study on the system of psychophysiological and psychological (temperamental and personal) factors of stress exposure in a situation of professional evaluation of the subjects is considered. The results of the empirical study of stress factors including psychophysiological, temperological and personal characteristics of the subjects are given. The analysis is made with the use of hardware–software system ‘Aktivatsiometr 9К’ by Y.А. Tsagarelli to detect psychophysiological parameters (functional hemispheric asymmetry, activation of the brain hemispheres, strength and lability of the nervous system), «Structure of temperament questionary» by V.М. Rusalov, and diagnosis of the strategic options for choosing a life journey ofthe ‘Typology of Personal Choice’ by V.G. Gryazeva-Dobshinskaya and A.S. Maltseva. Individually typological, as well as dynamic and activity-situational (in a situation of professional evaluation) characteristics of activation and hemispheric asymmetry of the subjects are calculated. Stress reaction is detected, provided individual-typological and activity situational characteristics of activation of the subjects differ by more than 1.5 times. Fifty-six senior students aging between 20 and 25 are the sample of the analysis. The sample is divided into two groups in accordance with the response to the situation of assessment of professional competence: group 1 (n1 = 19 people) with a detected stress reaction, group 2 (n1 = 37 people), in which the stress reactionis not detected. The correctness of the obtained differentiation in the groups of students, differing in the system of indicators of psychophysiological, temperological and personal characteristics is proved with the help of discriminate analysis. The model of stress exposure in a situation of professional evaluation is developed. Keywords: functional hemispheric asymmetry, everyday stress, professional evaluation, temperamental characteristics, personal choice

Introduction. Present work is dedicated to an urgent problem that has emerged as a result of a global trend – an increase in the number of young people moving to other countries in search for a higher education, which often leads to stress during the process of cultural adaptation.In the current research, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of the normative and individual values of students from China and Russia, studying at the Russian university. The relevance of the research is based on the existing need for distinguishing psychological resources that could be helpful in the process of cultural adaptation and experiencing stress during the contact with the new cultural environment. Value foundations are considered as one of such potential resources, capable of affecting process of experiencing stress and adaptation.The aim of the present article was to conduct a cross-cultural analysis of the normative and individual values of students from China, who experience stress and adapt to stressful situations in a new culture, and students from Russia studying with them.Methodology and research methods. The research uses a comparative analysis of values of different cultures and a complex analysis of value foundations in the context of experiencing stress and adaptation to stressful situations among migrant students.Results and scientifi novelty. In the course of the research, it was found out that values corresponding to the cultural specifi of the native countries of the students (China and Russia) are statistically more pronounced among students with a low level of stress. Among students with a high level of stress, values, which are not that part of the normative of their native culture, are more pronounced. Hedonistic values hamper the process of cultural adaptation both for Russian and Chinese students. A comprehensive study of the relationship between adaptation to stressful situations and stress experience revealed the groups of students with a cross-cultural specifiof the value foundations for experiencing stress. The data obtained both correlate with the existing studies of changes in values of students from China and Russia, and provide a basis for further research in the direction of studying stress and adaptation among students from both countries.Practical significance. The research results can be used in the analysis of stress exposure among students from Russia and China and the subsequent development of adaptational strategies. The discovered specificities of cultural value foundations could be employed to form potential resources of preadaptation to stressful situations among student youth.