The connection of dysfunctional breathing with Self-Government styles in the Russian population during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION: Dysfunctional breathing is experienced as “difficulty in inhaling” and is similar to the symptoms of COVID-19 (Gavriatopoulou et al., 2020), which justifies the relevance of studying this phenomenon in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVES: To identifiy a relationship between self-management styles and the severity of dysfunctional breathing in the uninfected COVID-19 population of Russia. METHODS: The author used the socio-demographic questionnaire, the Naimigen Questionnaire (Van Dixhoorn, Duivenvoordent, 1985) and J. Kuhl’s and A. Fuhrman’s Self-Government Test (Kool, Furman, 1998; Kul, Kvirin, Kool, 2020). The study was conducted online from April 27 to December 28, 2020. It was attended by 1,362 people from all regions of Russia (38.3 ±11.4y.o.). RESULTS: The components are Self-regulation (r = -0.454, p = 0.000) and Self-Control (r =-0.197, p=0.000). There is also a component of Will Development (r=-0,297, p = 0,000) and Sensitivity to oneself (r=-0,480, p=0,000). It is important to note that dysfunctional breathing has a strong positive correlation with the component of life stress experiencing (=0.335, p=0.000). At the same time, the components of Self-regulation and Self-sensitivity have large correlation coefficients, which indicates their greater role. CONCLUSIONS: People with low self-regulation and self-control, as well as with less expressed will and sensitivity to themselves, are more likely to have dysfunctional breathing and a more pronounced experience of life stress in a pandemic. The described components can be used as “targets” for individualized psychotherapy of dysfunctional breathing in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was supported of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624. DISCLOSURE: The study was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624.