| 1. |
- Bekesiene, Svajone, et al.
(författare)
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Three-Faceted Approach to Perceived Stress : A Longitudinal Study of Stress Hormones, Personality, and Group Cohesion in the Real-Life Setting of Compulsory Basic Military Training
- 2022
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 14:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Compulsory basic military training is characterized not only by being challenging but also by being stressful. Assuming a high frequency of perceived stress events as a negative outcome of training, this article provides evidence on how the perceived frequency of stressful situations is affected by three types of factors: (i) biological stress response variables measured by hair steroid hormone levels, (ii) personality traits measured using the Big Five personality test, and (iii) group cohesion measures in military squads. A total of 112 conscripts in 11 squads participated in the research at the beginning (T1), in the middle (T2), and at the end (T3) of compulsory basic military training. Hair steroid hormone levels (cortisol, cortisone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) levels were measured by liquid mass spectrometry; other data were collected using self-report questionnaires. The results of the Poisson regression analysis indicated that hair steroid hormone cortisol had a statistically significantly impact and could increase the perceived frequency of stressful situations by up to 1.317 (e(0.275), T2) times. The concentrations of other hormones (cortisone = 1.157, e(0.146), T3 and DHEA = 1.020, e(0.020), T3) also had a statistically significant effect. Other factors had a decreasing effect on the frequency. Extraversion was significant with an effect of 0.907 (e(-0.098), T2) and 0.847 (e(-0.166), T3), while task cohesion had an effect of 0.946 (e(-0.056)) and norm cohesion of 0.954 (e(-0.047)). The research indicates that the three groups of factors affect the perceived frequency of stressful situations during compulsory basic military training, but their impacts are considerably different.
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| 2. |
- Larsson, Gerry, Professor, 1952-, et al.
(författare)
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Perceived stress and hair cortisol level amongst conscripts during basic military training : A repeated measures study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Military Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0899-5605 .- 1532-7876. ; 34:5, s. 541-550
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim was to examine hair cortisol levels and self-reported stress amongst conscripts during their basic military training, and how they are related to four types of theory-derived determinants. The following prediction was made: lower levels of perceived stress and hair cortisol will be associated with: (1) higher levels of emotional stability (the individual nonmilitary aspect); (2) a lower degree of private life problems (the contextual nonmilitary aspect); (3) more positive attitudes toward the military, higher engagement in military service, and higher adaptability to military conditions (the individual-military aspect); and (4) stronger group cohesion and better leadership (the contextual-military aspect). The sample consisted of a total of 107 male Lithuanian conscripts. Assessments were made at the beginning of their basic military training, in the middle, and at the end. Established instruments were used on all self-reported scales. Hair cortisol levels were established through analyses of hair samples. Low to moderate levels of stress were found throughout the basic training period regarding perceived stress levels. Hair cortisol levels were mainly unrelated to the self-rating scales. Regarding perceived stress, the prediction was fully confirmed. The future value of the theoretical model is discussed.
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| 3. |
- Larsson, Gerry, Professor, 1952-, et al.
(författare)
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Psychological prediction of stress-related hair stereoid hormone levels in young men : A person-centered approache
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nordic Psychology. - 1901-2276 .- 1904-0016.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim was to: (1) identify individual profiles in young men regarding personality and cognitive appraisal style employing easy-to-use instruments, and (2) to explore how such profiles relate to biological stress indicators. The sample consisted of 173 male Lithuanian conscripts. An assessment was made after one month into their basic military training. Levels of cortisol, cortisone and testosterone were established through analysis of hair samples. Psychological assessments included the Big Five model of personality as well as cognitive appraisal style and perceived stress during the previous month of service. Four unique personality profiles were identified in a cluster analysis that differed significantly as theoretically expected on the Perceived Stress Scale. Statistically significant between-profile differences were found on cortisol and cortisone but not on testosterone. The personality profile with the highest scores on all three biological markers was characterized by high scores on Extraversion and Openness and low scores on Agreeableness. Second, three distinct cognitive appraisal style profiles emerged. They were related as theoretically expected to perceived stress, but they were unrelated to the hair steroid hormone concentration levels. Third, the combination of the most psychologically vulnerable personality profile, which included low scores on Emotional stability, and the most stressed cognitive appraisal style profile, yielded the clearest result and showed that it was possible to detect individuals with significantly higher stress-related hair steroid hormone levels using psychological instruments. Practical potential implications include identification of individuals who are most psychologically vulnerable and in need of close monitoring.
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| 4. |
- Mažeikienė, Asta, et al.
(författare)
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The Association between Endogenous Hair Steroid Hormones and Social Environmental Factors in a Group of Conscripts during Basic Military Training
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:22, s. 1-18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aimed to analyse the association between endogenous hair steroid hormones as reliable biological indicators of an individual’s stress level and the social environmental factors experienced during military training that are manifested at the beginning of compulsory military service. Hair steroid hormone concentrations—cortisol, cortisone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and testosterone—in a group of 185 conscripts were measured using the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. Six subjective social environmental factors in the military—attitude towards the military and military service, adaptation to the military environment, team, task, and norm cohesion, as well as psychological (un)safety in the group—were evaluated using military-specific research questionnaires. Weak but significant negative correlations were identified between cortisol and adaptation (r = −0.176, p < 0.05), attitude (r = −0.147, p < 0.05) as well as between testosterone and task cohesion (r = −0.230, p < 0.01) levels. Additionally, a multiple forward stepwise regression analysis highlighted that cortisone variation might be partially explained by task cohesion; the DHEA—determined by psychological (un)safety in the group, attitude towards the military and military service, and norm cohesion; and the testosterone—determined by task cohesion and adaptation to the new military environment. The results of this study suggest that subjective measures of social factors can be used to predict hair steroid hormone levels as objective measures of the chronic stress perceived by conscripts during their basic military training.
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| 5. |
- Smaliukiene, Rasa, et al.
(författare)
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Hair Cortisol, Perceived Stress, and the Effect of Group Dynamics : A Longitudinal Study of Young Men during Compulsory Military Training in Lithuania
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 19:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous research shows a nonlinear dependency between hair cortisol concentrations and perceived stress levels. This may be due to stress being targeted at the individual level despite it also being a social phenomenon which is often affected by group dynamics. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the influence of perceived stress on the hair cortisol level, considering the impact of the variables of group dynamics (interpersonal, task, and norm cohesion). Information was collected on 11 groups of, in total, 112 young men in three phases of time during their compulsory military training (covering nine months in total). The classification and regression tree (C&RT) method was used to predict hair cortisol concentrations in groups. The results show that the variability of the hair cortisol level in young men groups can be explained by perceived stress only when the groups were in formation process (47.7% normalised importance in Model 1) and when the groups were working on their final tasks (37.80% normalised importance in Model 3); meanwhile, the importance of perceived stress in explaining hair cortisol concentrations is low when the group is in a routine period of a group life-span (28.9% normalised importance in Model 2). Interpersonal cohesion (normalised importance 100% in Model 1 and 80.0% in Model 3) and task cohesion (normalised importance 78.6% in Model 2) were the most important predictors in the study area. These results point to the importance of the elements of group dynamics when it comes to explaining the nature of hair cortisol as accumulated stress biomarkers in young men.
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