Objective: The aim of the article is to reveal the potential of Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a factor in strengthening the students' mental health (MH) during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patients and methods: Materials and methods: The experimental work was carried out in four stages: 1) preparation - substantiation of its scientific and theoretical principles; 2) ascertaining - development of prognostic tools, conducting an on-line survey of students, an analysis of its results; 3) formative - training with the experimental group participants following the author's methodology; 4) control - survey of experimental group members, determination of experimental results. About 230 students of Ukraine took part in the survey. The statistical processing of the survey results was performed by formal mathematical calculations and calculating Student's t-criterion in order to verify the equality of the mean dependent values in different samples.
Results: Results: The presented results of the research and experiment prove that Emotional Intelligence, in particular its four identified components (іnformation, аdaptivebehaviour, self-control, empathy), can be an effective factor not only in maintaining university students' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in their adaptation to other adverse conditions. A comparison of the results of our research with similar sociological research shows the similarity of problems and changes in the students' mental health all over the world during the pandemic. The materials tested during the development of prognostic tools and training methods can be taken into account for the organization of such research and training activities.
Conclusion: Conclusions: The presented results of the research and experiment prove that EI, in particular its four identified components, can be an effective factor not only in maintaining university students' MH during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in their adaptation to other adverse conditions. A comparison of the results of our research with similar sociological research shows the similarity of problems and changes in the students' MH all over the world during the pandemic. The materials tested during the development of prognostic tools and training methods are publicly available on the Internet, so they can be taken into account for the organization of such research and training activities. At the same time, we insist that the pandemic should not only intensify the study of changes in MH, but also stimulate the search for effective means to strengthen it. Sir Winston Churchill's eloquent appeal "Never let a good crisis go to waste" should be a guideline in solving this problem.
Keywords: university students; СОVID-19; Emotional Intelligence; higher education; mental health.