Abstract:

Introduction:
From a mental health perspective, undergraduate special education students are considered a vulnerable population in which resilience plays a critical role in maintaining emotional stability. Currently, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, university students have been described as experiencing an increase in anxiety or depressive symptoms, decreased levels of resilience, and decreased ability to maintain interpersonal relationships. The ability to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships may also be negatively affected by mild cognitive and communication difficulties. Furthermore, the combination of a reduction in resilience, an increase in stress and the use of disadvantageous coping strategies has the potential to negatively impact academic performance, social interactions, and future careers.

Aim:
The aim of this paper is to identify and describe mild cognitive-communication difficulties among students of special education at the University of Ostrava in relation to coping strategies used and quality of life.

Materials and methods:
The research sample consisted of 120 students enrolled in special education programs at the Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava. These students were aged 19 to 30 years. Data were collected using the Cognitive-Communication Checklist (CCCABI), the Stress Coping Style Questionnaire (SVF-78), and the Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-26).

The results indicated that many respondents (75%) exhibited mild cognitive-communication difficulties, despite not reporting any subjective difficulties. The findings demonstrated a negative impact of these difficulties on quality of life, and that negative coping strategies were significantly correlated with quality of life and mild cognitive-communication difficulties.

In conclusion, it can be stated that: Those engaged in the study of special education and subsequently pursuing a career as a special educator must possess a certain level of resilience and the capacity to cope well with stressful situations. The findings of this study indicate that it is crucial to prioritize the mental health of special education students, to cultivate positive coping strategies, and to identify factors that may negatively impact mental health and future career prospects. These factors may include mild cognitive-communication difficulties.

Keywords:

Education, university students, resilience, quality of life, mild cognitive-communication difficulties.