Changes taking place in the world transform the usual way of life and force one to adapt to new forms of work, training, leisure, etc. Despite the fact that information and communication technologies have been a popular educational tool for a long time, the transition of students from full-time to distance learning (DL) in connection with the coronavirus pandemic created a situation of high tension for a number of objective and subjective reasons: uncertainty, a threat to health, lack of real communication, technical difficulties of the DL. All of this in aggregate is considered by us as a stressful situation (SS) and determines the relevance of the study of personality factors that contribute to coping with new stresses. The purpose of the study is to identify factors of SS and resources to control it from the standpoint of maintaining the health and vitality of students.Methods: semi-standardized expert interviews with teachers, author's questionnaire «Difficulties and resources to overcome them», questionnaire «Health» a short version of the vitality test (Osin & Rasskazova, 2013), assessment of motivation and attitude towards professional activity students (Krylova & Ignatkova, 2017). The study was carried out online in May 2020 during the transition exclusively to DUO. Sample: expert interviews with 30 teachers from universities in St. Petersburg, Tver, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk; 82 students (age 18 - 30 years) of the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University, College of Physical Culture and Sports of St. Petersburg State University, Sakhalin College of Arts.Results. Among the most stressful factors of emergency situations, students included social isolation, new conditions and requirements for self-organizing training, the cognitive difficulties of control tasks in an online format, an epidemiological threat to health, and an experience of anxiety and uncertainty. From the perspective of the subject-resource approach, the personal resources of coping with emergenciesare determined. The obtained results formed the basis for recommendations and reconstructions of the educational process.