Back to the basics of polar expeditions: personality hardiness, fear, and nutrition in polar environments

The present paper aims at presenting an overview of findings relating personality hardiness to adaptation to polar environments. Several studies from the Operational Psychology Research group at the University of Bergen have depicted individual characteristics of high hardy subjects involved in stressful activities in polar environments. These high hardy subjects have superior coping skills, are less influenced by environmental stress, show increased motivation during endurance activities, and have a more adaptive biological stress response. It could be assumed that explorers undertaking solo expeditions in polar environments would represent extremely hardy people. Thus, in addition to previously reported studies on hardiness in polar environment, the results from two previously published papers are presented and re-interpreted. The studies provided a rare opportunity to separate the effects of extreme physiological and emotional strain (mainly fear) and present the trajectory of relevant biomarkers of fear, stress, appetite, and nutritional status during a 90-day expedition across Antarctica. The studies expanded on previous knowledge by showing extreme variations in biomarkers during the expedition and suggested that extreme fear has the highest impact on indicators of stress, stress regulation, appetite, and nutritional status. This, together with the recovery effects found on nutrition status after a daily energy uptake of 5–6000 kcal, expands on previous knowledge about adaptation in polar environments.publishedVersio

Perceived learning outcome: The relationship between experience, realism and situation awareness during simulator training

Background. Navigation errors are a frequent cause of serious accidents and work-related injuries among seafarers. The present study investigated the effects of experience, perceived realism, and situation awareness (SA) on the perceived learning outcome of simulator-based navigation training. Material and methods. Thirty-two Norwegian Navy officer cadets were assigned to a low and a high mental workload conditions based on previous educational and navigational experience. Results. In the low mental workload condition, experience (negatively associated), perceived realism, and subjective SA explained almost half of the total variance in perceived learning outcome. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that only subjective SA made a unique contribution to the learning outcome. In the high mental workload condition, perceived realism and subjective SA together explained almost half of the variance in perceived learning outcome. Furthermore, both perceived realism and subjective SA were shown to make an independent contribution to perceived learning outcomes. Conclusions. The results of this study show that in order to enhance the learning outcomes from simulator training it is necessary to design training procedures and scenarios that enable students to achieve functional fidelity and to generate and maintain SA during training. This can further improve safety and reduce the risk of maritime disasters. (Int Marit Health 2010; 61; 4: 258-264

Relationship between Neuroticism, threat of shock and heart rate variability reactivity

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Neuroticism, non-executive functioningand heart rate variability (HRV) in both threat and non-threat situations. Sixty-five male sailors fromthe Royal Norwegian Navy participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat andthreat groups. Neuroticism was measured by the NEO-PI-R and, based on the median-split of Neuroticism,groups were divided into 2 additional groups. A Visual Search Task was used to measure non-executivefunctioning. HRV reactivity was measured during baseline-, test- and recovery-conditions. Overall, the resultsrevealed that there were no differences between any of the groups in terms of the performance onthe Visual Search Task: this was true for both accuracy data and mean reaction time. However, the resultsshowed that the High Neuroticism Threat Group had a significant increase in HRV from test-condition torecovery. This may indicate that the High Neuroticism Threat Group found the whole task condition morestressful due to the threat situation

The dimensionality of the 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12): Comparisons of factor structures and invariance across samples and time

Because of its brevity, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has become one of the most popular and used measure for detecting psychological distress. Originally intended as a unidimensional measure, the majority of subsequent factor-analytic studies have failed to support GHQ-12 as a unitary construct and have instead proposed a plethora of multidimensional structures. In this study, we further examined the factor structure in two different military samples, one consisting of crewmembers from four different frigates deployed in anti-piracy operations and Standing NATO Maritime Group deployments (N = 591) and one consisting of crewmember from three different minehunters/sweepers serving in Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group deployments (N = 196). Results from confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) performed in the first sample supported a bifactor model, consisting of a general factor representing communality among all items and two specific factors reflecting common variance due to wording effects (negatively and positively phrased items). A multi-group CFA further confirmed this structure to be invariant across our second sample. Structural equation modeling also showed that the general factor was strongly associated with symptoms of insomnia and mental health, whereas the specific factors were either non-significantly or considerably weaker associated with the criterion variables. Overall, our results are congruent with the notion that the multidimensionality demonstrated in many previous investigations is most likely an expression of method-specific variance caused by item wording. The explained unique variance associated with these specific factors was further relatively small. Ignoring the multidimensionality and treating GHQ-12 as a unitary construct will therefore most likely introduce minimal bias to most practical applications.publishedVersio

Relationship between Neuroticism, Threat of shock and Heart Rate Variability Reactivity

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Neuroticism, non-executive functioningand heart rate variability (HRV) in both threat and non-threat situations. Sixty-five male sailors fromthe Royal Norwegian Navy participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat andthreat groups. Neuroticism was measured by the NEO-PI-R and, based on the median-split of Neuroticism,groups were divided into 2 additional groups. A Visual Search Task was used to measure non-executivefunctioning. HRV reactivity was measured during baseline-, test- and recovery-conditions. Overall, the resultsrevealed that there were no differences between any of the groups in terms of the performance onthe Visual Search Task: this was true for both accuracy data and mean reaction time. However, the resultsshowed that the High Neuroticism Threat Group had a significant increase in HRV from test-condition torecovery. This may indicate that the High Neuroticism Threat Group found the whole task condition morestressful due to the threat situation.publishedVersio

Police Dyads Within an Operational Simulation: an Empirical Test of the Research Propositions Made in the “Big Five” Teamwork Approach

Based on the impact of the theoretical big five of teamwork model proposed by Salas et al. (2005), the present study aimed at investigating the model within an operational police simulation. One hundred and sixty-seven frontline police officers participated in the study. Based on path analyses, a reduced model excluding trust and leadership obtained a good fit with the data. The results provided some support for the model by confirming six out of 10 proposed direct effects and four out of seven indirect pathways. Shared mental models directly affected team adaptability, and backup behavior affects adaptability and team effectiveness. Team orientation affects mutual performance monitoring and backup behavior, and finally, reciprocal monitoring affects backup behavior. Monitoring influenced both team effectiveness and adaptability through backup behavior. Two paths from team orientation towards effectiveness were found. One flowing through monitoring and another through back-up behavior. Our study expands former knowledge of the big five theory by empirically testing the totality of the model and identifying important pathways.publishedVersio

Perceived learning outcome: the relationship between experience, realism, and situation awareness during simulator training

Background. Navigation errors are a frequent cause of serious accidents and work-related injuries among seafarers. The present study investigated the effects of experience, perceived realism, and situation awareness (SA) on the perceived learning outcome of simulator-based navigation training. Material and methods. Thirty-two Norwegian Navy officer cadets were assigned to a low and a high mental workload conditions based on previous educational and navigational experience. Results. In the low mental workload condition, experience (negatively associated), perceived realism, and subjective SA explained almost half of the total variance in perceived learning outcome. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that only subjective SA made a unique contribution to the learning outcome. In the high mental workload condition, perceived realism and subjective SA together explained almost half of the variance in perceived learning outcome. Furthermore, both perceived realism and subjective SA were shown to make an independent contribution to perceived learning outcomes. Conclusions. The results of this study show that in order to enhance the learning outcomes from simulator training it is necessary to design training procedures and scenarios that enable students to achieve functional fidelity and to generate and maintain SA during training. This can further improve safety and reduce the risk of maritime disasters.publishedVersio

The effect of hardiness on symptoms of insomnia during a naval mission

Background: Sleep is increasingly being recognised as important for the health and well-being of sailors. The aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between hardiness and reported insomnia-symptoms in a maritime military setting during a 4-month counter piracy naval mission in the Gulf of Aden. Materials and methods: A sample of 281 officers, sailors, and enlisted personnel were measured on levels of hardiness before the mission. The participants were split into low and high hardiness groups based on the group level mean. Insomnia-symptoms were measured before, midway and at the end of the mission. Results: The results showed a significant main effect of time and a significant main effect of hardiness. The crew experienced the most insomnia symptoms in the middle of the mission and the high hardy group experienced less insomnia symptoms, in total, during the mission. There was also found a significant interaction effect of time and hardiness. The high hardiness group experienced less insomnia symptoms before and towards the end of the mission. Conclusions: The results indicate that high levels of hardiness may be a protective factor between the stressors of a naval mission and symptoms of insomnia.

Implementering av teamevaluering i operativ avdeling: En case studie av «Bottom-Up» organisasjonsutvikling

Operative avdelinger er avhengig av gode teamferdigheter. Slike ferdigheter omfatter mer en taktikk og prosedyrer og gode avdelinger har også et fokus på samhandling (også kalt nontechnical skills) da dette bidrar til bedret oppdragsløsning. Til tross for den uttalte betydningen av samhandling i team har få avdelinger et redskap for å vurdere og utvikle slik atferd. Denne artikkelen har derfor til hensikt å beskrive implementering av en tilnærming til evaluering og utvikling av teamatferd i politiets spesialstyrke (Beredskapstroppen), basert på teorien om felles mentale modeller. Prosessen med implementering, fra seleksjon av operatører til tilnærmingen ble integrert i daglig virksomhet, representert ved trening og øving, er redegjort for. Basert på erfaringen med implementering av evalueringsmetoden er det utledet en «Bottom-up» modell som forklaring på hvorfor en slik tilnærming til organisasjonsutviklingsprosesser (OU-prosesser) kan virke i operative avdelinger. Kunnskap om virksomme måter å evaluere og utvikle teamatferd samt hvordan OUprosessene kan virke i avdelinger med svært dedikert personell, er viktig innen alle operative virksomheter

Teamwork skills, shared mental models, and performance in simulated trauma teams: an independent group design

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-technical skills are seen as an important contributor to reducing adverse events and improving medical management in healthcare teams. Previous research on the effectiveness of teams has suggested that shared mental models facilitate coordination and team performance. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether demonstrated teamwork skills and behaviour indicating shared mental models would be associated with observed improved medical management in trauma team simulations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Revised versions of the 'Anesthetists' Non-Technical Skills Behavioural marker system' and 'Anti-Air Teamwork Observation Measure' were field tested in moment-to-moment observation of 27 trauma team simulations in Norwegian hospitals. Independent subject matter experts rated medical management in the teams. An independent group design was used to explore differences in teamwork skills between higher-performing and lower-performing teams.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Specific teamwork skills and behavioural markers were associated with indicators of good team performance. Higher and lower-performing teams differed in information exchange, supporting behaviour and communication, with higher performing teams showing more effective information exchange and communication, and less supporting behaviours. Behavioural markers of shared mental models predicted effective medical management better than teamwork skills.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study replicates and extends previous research by providing new empirical evidence of the significance of specific teamwork skills and a shared mental model for the effective medical management of trauma teams. In addition, the study underlines the generic nature of teamwork skills by demonstrating their transferability from different clinical simulations like the anaesthesia environment to trauma care, as well as the potential usefulness of behavioural frequency analysis in future research on non-technical skills.</p