Effects of dance-driven gymnastics practices on psychoemotional statuses of foreign female first-year students

The study profiles and analyzes the psycho-emotional states of the foreign female first-year students of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (PFUR). Today the PFUR student population is 30% foreign coming from 155 countries. It is highly important for this student group to make success in the social adaptation and learning process with no detriment to health. As reported in some studies, modern dance-driven gymnastics practices in the emotionally uplifting environments may be of highly positive effects on the individuals exposed to new social environments and stressors, as verified by the growing interest in and satisfaction with the educational process. The tests applied in the dance-driven gymnastics training model under the study were as follows: standard WAM (wellbeing, activity and mood) questionnaire survey method; and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) method. The study data and analyses showed benefits of the tested dance-driven gymnastics training model as verified by the significant progress of the foreign female students versus their Russian peers in the WAM tests; with the psycho-emotional state improvements tested in both of the groups.