Lidando com o stresse na fronteira final: uma intervenção para reduzir o stresse induzido por voos espaciais

Research in human spaceflight has extensively documented how microgravity environments, such as spaceflight across Low Earth Orbit (LEO), affects astronauts’ and Spaceflight Participants’ emotions. However, a more refined understanding of this topic will become especially relevant as national and international space agencies increase the duration of manned space missions, and as the private sector fully enters the aerospace arena. In this paper, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the four main types of interventions for dealing with the stressors associated with human spaceflight (i.e., ergonomic, physiological, psychological, and psychosocial), and then elaborate on a psychosocial intervention grounded on evidence-based interventions across several fields of psychological research. Among the components of such interventions, we recommend adopting advanced stress coping strategies, developing emotional and intercultural competencies and crafting a shared social identity among crew members. Our proposed intervention aims to enhance the efficacy of social support as a key coping mechanism and applies to crewmembers and spaceflight participants of diverse cultural backgrounds who, most likely, will work using computer-mediated communication (CMC).Investigações em voos espaciais tripulados documentaram extensivamente como os ambientes de microgravidade, como voos espaciais pela órbita baixa da Terra (OBT), afetam as emoções dos astronautas e dos participantes do Voo Espacial. No entanto, um entendimento mais refinado deste tópico tornar-se-á especialmente relevante, à medida que as agências espaciais nacionais e internacionais aumentem a duração das missões espaciais tripuladas e que o setor privado entre totalmente na arena aeroespacial. Neste artigo, analisamos os pontos fortes e fracos dos quatro principais tipos de intervenções para lidar com os stressores associados ao voo espacial humano (ergonómico, fisiológico, psicológico e psicossocial) e depois desenhamos uma intervenção psicossocial sustentada em intervenções baseadas em evidências realizadas em vários campos da investigação psicológica. Entre os componentes de tais intervenções, recomendamos a adoção de estratégias avançadas para lidar com o stresse, o desenvolvimento de competências emocionais e interculturais e a criação de uma identidade social partilhada entre os membros da tripulação. A nossa proposta de intervenção visa aumentar a eficácia do apoio social como um mecanismo chave para lidar com o stresse e aplica-se a tripulantes e participantes de voos espaciais de diversas origens culturais que, muito provavelmente, irão trabalhar usando comunicação mediada por computador (CMC)

Coping in the final frontier: An intervention to reduce spaceflight-induced stress

Research in human spaceflight has extensively documented how microgravity environments, such as spaceflight across Low Earth Orbit (LEO), affects astronauts’ and Spaceflight Participants’ emotions. However, a more refined understanding of this topic will become especially relevant as national and international space agencies increase the duration of manned space missions, and as the private sector fully enters the aerospace arena. In this paper, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the four main types of interventions for dealing with the stressors associated with human spaceflight (i.e., ergonomic, physiological, psychological, and psychosocial), and then elaborate on a psychosocial intervention grounded on evidence-based interventions across several fields of psychological research. Among the components of such interventions, we recommend adopting advanced stress coping strategies, developing emotional and intercultural competencies and crafting a shared social identity among crew members. Our proposed intervention aims to enhance the efficacy of social support as a key coping mechanism and applies to crewmembers and spaceflight participants of diverse cultural backgrounds who, most likely, will work using computer-mediated communication (CMC).Investigações em voos espaciais tripulados documentaram extensivamente como os ambientes de microgravidade, como voos espaciais pela órbita baixa da Terra (OBT), afetam as emoções dos astronautas e dos participantes do Voo Espacial. No entanto, um entendimento mais refinado deste tópico tornar-se-á especialmente relevante, à medida que as agências espaciais nacionais e internacionais aumentem a duração das missões espaciais tripuladas e que o setor privado entre totalmente na arena aeroespacial. Neste artigo, analisamos os pontos fortes e fracos dos quatro principais tipos de intervenções para lidar com os stressores associados ao voo espacial humano (ergonómico, fisiológico, psicológico e psicossocial) e depois desenhamos uma intervenção psicossocial sustentada em intervenções baseadas em evidências realizadas em vários campos da investigação psicológica. Entre os componentes de tais intervenções, recomendamos a adoção de estratégias avançadas para lidar com o stresse, o desenvolvimento de competências emocionais e interculturais e a criação de uma identidade social partilhada entre os membros da tripulação. A nossa proposta de intervenção visa aumentar a eficácia do apoio social como um mecanismo chave para lidar com o stresse e aplica-se a tripulantes e participantes de voos espaciais de diversas origens culturais que, muito provavelmente, irão trabalhar usando comunicação mediada por computador (CMC)

Risk of Performance and Behavioral Health Decrements Due to Inadequate Cooperation, Coordination, Communication, and Psychosocial Adaptation within a Team

A team is defined as: "two or more individuals who interact socially and adaptively, have shared or common goals, and hold meaningful task interdependences; it is hierarchically structured and has a limited life span; in it expertise and roles are distributed; and it is embedded within an organization/environmental context that influences and is influenced by ongoing processes and performance outcomes" (Salas, Stagl, Burke, & Goodwin, 2007, p. 189). From the NASA perspective, a team is commonly understood to be a collection of individuals that is assigned to support and achieve a particular mission. Thus, depending on context, this definition can encompass both the spaceflight crew and the individuals and teams in the larger multi-team system who are assigned to support that crew during a mission. The Team Risk outcomes of interest are predominantly performance related, with a secondary emphasis on long-term health; this is somewhat unique in the NASA HRP in that most Risk areas are medically related and primarily focused on long-term health consequences. In many operational environments (e.g., aviation), performance is assessed as the avoidance of errors. However, the research on performance errors is ambiguous. It implies that actions may be dichotomized into "correct" or "incorrect" responses, where incorrect responses or errors are always undesirable. Researchers have argued that this dichotomy is a harmful oversimplification, and it would be more productive to focus on the variability of human performance and how organizations can manage that variability (Hollnagel, Woods, & Leveson, 2006) (Category III1). Two problems occur when focusing on performance errors: 1) the errors are infrequent and, therefore, difficult to observe and record; and 2) the errors do not directly correspond to failure. Research reveals that humans are fairly adept at correcting or compensating for performance errors before such errors result in recognizable or recordable failures. Astronauts are notably adept high performers. Most failures are recorded only when multiple, small errors occur and humans are unable to recognize and correct or compensate for these errors in time to prevent a failure (Dismukes, Berman, Loukopoulos, 2007) (Category III). More commonly, observers record variability in levels of performance. Some teams commit no observable errors but fail to achieve performance objectives or perform only adequately, while other teams commit some errors but perform spectacularly. Successful performance, therefore, cannot be viewed as simply the absence of errors or the avoidance of failure Johnson Space Center (JSC) Joint Leadership Team, 2008). While failure is commonly attributed to making a major error, focusing solely on the elimination of error(s) does not significantly reduce the risk of failure. Failure may also occur when performance is simply insufficient or an effort is incapable of adjusting sufficiently to a contextual change (e.g., changing levels of autonomy)

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 187

This supplement to Aerospace Medicine and Biology lists 247 reports, articles and other documents announced during November 1978 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) or in International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA). In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which man is subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects of biological organisms of lower order are also included. Emphasis is placed on applied research, but reference to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the bibliography consists of a bibliographic citation accompanied in most cases by an abstract

Investigation of possible causes for human-performance degradation during microgravity flight

The results of the first year of a three year study of the effects of microgravity on human performance are given. Test results show support for the hypothesis that the effects of microgravity can be studied indirectly on Earth by measuring performance in an altered gravitational field. The hypothesis was that an altered gravitational field could disrupt performance on previously automated behaviors if gravity was a critical part of the stimulus complex controlling those behaviors. In addition, it was proposed that performance on secondary cognitive tasks would also degrade, especially if the subject was provided feedback about degradation on the previously automated task. In the initial experimental test of these hypotheses, there was little statistical support. However, when subjects were categorized as high or low in automated behavior, results for the former group supported the hypotheses. The predicted interaction between body orientation and level of workload in their joint effect on performance in the secondary cognitive task was significant for the group high in automatized behavior and receiving feedback, but no such interventions were found for the group high in automatized behavior but not receiving feedback, or the group low in automatized behavior

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 337)

This bibliography lists 400 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during May 1990. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 165, March 1977

This bibliography lists 198 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in February 1977

Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 384)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in Supplements 372 through 383 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. It includes seven indexes: subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 162, January 1977

This bibliography lists 189 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in December 1976