Stress dynamics in long-term isolation at sea. A demographic variables model

The current article describes a naturalistic research programme carried out among fishermen during a 6-month expedition to the southern Atlantic Ocean. Stress levels of 81 participants were measured 4 times during the expedition. Social-demographic variables (age, years of experience at sea, job satisfaction, education, current and childhood place of residence, relationship status) were also included in the analysis. Results show that these variables should be considered when analysing stress dynamics among people experiencing long-term work-related isolation

Coping strategies and perceiving stress among athletes during different waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic—Data from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has affected numerous aspects of human functioning. Social contacts, work, education, travel, and sports have drastically changed during the lockdown periods. The pandemic restrictions have severely limited professional athletes’ ability to train and participate in competitions. For many who rely on sports as their main source of income, this represents a source of intense stress. To assess the dynamics of perceived stress as well as coping strategies during different waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, we carried out a longitudinal study using the Perception of Stress Questionnaire and the Brief COPE on a sample of 2020 professional athletes in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The results revealed that in all three countries, the highest intrapsychic stress levels were reported during the fourth wave (all, p < 0.01) and the highest external stress levels were reported before the pandemic (p < 0.05). To analyze the data, analyses of variance were carried out using Tukey’s post hoc test and η2 for effect size. Further, emotional tension was the highest among Polish and Slovak athletes in the fourth wave, while the highest among Romanian athletes was in the pre-pandemic period. The coping strategies used by the athletes in the fourth wave were more dysfunctional than during the first wave (independent t test and Cohen’s d were used). The dynamics of the coping strategies—emotion focused and problem focused—were also discussed among Polish, Romanian, and Slovak athletes. Coaches and sports psychologists can modify the athletes’ perceived stress while simultaneously promoting effective coping strategies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Narcissism in sportsmen – a truth or a stereotype?

If sportsman is achieving considerable success and realizes his goals he is also gaining social acceptance. However the pursue of public admiration can also apply to non-successful athletes. The word narcissus in the everyday use has a straightforward negative connotation – being in love with oneself, loving only him/herself. However feeling of pride and self-content is not a symptom of a disorder but of selfacceptance which is crucial for one’s normal development, without which we are not able to function normally. In order to obtain reliable answers to the question concerning the level of narcissistic features 505 professional sportsmen took part in the study. The sports they practiced were team sports, martial arts and individual sport activities. The control group were 697 individuals who have never trained any sport professionally. In the study we used Ruskin’s and Hall’s Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Polish adaptation by Bazińska and Drat-Ruszczak, 2000), were narcissism is considered as personality variable. Results of presented research of narcisstic sportsmen stereotype – nonathletes do not differ from athletes. It is concluded that difference in narcissism between athletes and non-athletes is stereotypic. Only women training martial arts characterize higher level of narcissistic features

The psychological profile of pilots of passenger planes: Analysis of temperamental traits, aggression and risk

Background: Over the years it has been assumed, that the greater the number of pilot flight hours, the better the development of problem-solving skills among pilots. Research suggests, however, that the problem is more complex than that. Not only one’s experience is of importance – temperament, aggression and risk may also affect the decision-making process under stressful conditions. Material and Methods: We examined 97 male pilots of passenger planes, who had flew ATRs, Boeings, Airbuses, Embraers, and Saabs. The comparative group was made up of 127 graduates of technical studies (not connected with aviation). In our study, we used the following methods: the PTS (Pavlovian Temperament Survey) Temperament Questionnaire by Strelau, the Aggression Questionnaire by Buss and Perry, and the Stimulating-Instrumental Risk Inventory (SIRI) by Zaleśkiewicz. Results: Following the analyses we could categorize the pilots into 3 distinct groups: group 1 – strong type of nervous system with a tendency to avoid risk; group 2 – strong type of nervous system with a tendency to take risks; group 3 – the relatively weakest type of nervous system with a tendency toward aggressive behavior. Conclusions: Members of each group were analyzed to assess how they function in a task situation, i.e., whilst piloting a passenger plane. The study showed that individuals with high need for stimulation may – consciously or not – seek situations of excessive or unnecessary risks, and this is done in order to reach the right level of stimulation. A constellation of the following variables: temperament, risk, and aggression could be – we argue – useful in psychological examinations, and should be taken into account in training procedures for pilots. Med Pr 2017;68(5):639–65

Temperament and styles of coping with stress among senior and junior participants of Polish Gliding Championships 2008

The paper presents empirical work on temperament and styles of coping with stress among junior and senior participants of Polish Gliding Championships 2008 (44 pilots, including 22 juniors (male) and 22 seniors (male) took part in the test). It is based on Regulative Theory of Temperament by J. Strelau, Zuckerman’s Theory of Temperament and Endler’s and Parker’s Theory of Styles of Coping with Stress. Following instruments were used in the reasearch: Strelau Temperament Inventory, Sensation Seeking Scale by Zuckerman and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. Analysis of the results showed that some temperamental traits moderated the choice of style of coping with stress among gliders’ pilots. Juniors are more likely than seniors to take hazardous actions. Seniors, more often than juniors, prefer stress-coping methods based on solving of problems and specific tasks

Psychological Aspects of Risk and Aggression among Motorcyclists – “Mad Max” Syndrome

The primary objective of this study was the psychological examination of a group of Polish motorcyclists against a group of students and graduates of Technical Universities. This work poses a question regarding the differences in temperament, aggression and the level of risk between motorcyclists and the control group. The second question was whether it was possible to create a typology of Polish motorcyclists taking into account the variables describing risk, temperament and aggression. This study used the Pavlovian Temperamental Scale (Strelau, Zawadzki, 1998), Stimulating-Instrumental Risk Inventory, SIRI 2001 (Zaleśkiewicz 2001), Multifactor Risky Behavior Scale (Studenski 2004), Unhealthy behavior Inventory (Makarowski 2008) and the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire (1992). The tests were performed on 267 motorcyclists and 188 students and graduates of Technical Universities. A number of important differences was observed between the motorcyclists and the control group. Motorcyclists had a higher level of mobility of nervous processes and higher degree of excitation at the lower level of inhibitory processes. In terms of the measured level of risk they also had a higher level of stimulating, instrumental and unhealthy risk, at the lower levels of physical, social, ethical and financial risk in relation to the control group. Cluster and confirmation analyses showed the existence of three sub-groups of motorcyclists: prevaricators, ones with a Mad Max syndrome, and adventurers. The confirmation analysis was carried out on an additional group of 243 motorcyclists

Stress among nurses from countries variously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic – results collected in Poland and Iran

BackgroundNursing involves numerous stressful situations, such as overwork, night shifts, responsibility for the patients’ health, rapid pace of work, emotional demands, contact with suffering individuals, and patients’ aggressive behaviors. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is an additional demand on the already demanding profession. Thus, the aim of the current study was to assess the character of the relationship between overwork and subjectively experienced stress, taking into account the moderating role of contact with patients and work in facilities dedicated for COVID-19 patients, and the strategies of coping with stress, including resilience, in countries affected by the pandemic to various degrees.Material and MethodsThe study was carried out on 151 Iranian and 158 Polish nurses at the beginning of June 2020. The following research tools were used: the Overwork Climate Scale, the Brief COPE, the Resilience Scale, and the Perception of Stress Questionnaire. The participants were also asked about their contacts with patients infected with COVID-19, and work in facilities dedicated for such patients.ResultsPolish and Iranian nurses reported similar levels of overwork, but they differed with respect to the level of subjectively experienced stress and they used different coping strategies to various degrees. Contact with patients infected with COVID-19 and work in facilities dedicated for such patients also moderated the relationship between overwork climate and resilience.ConclusionsStress levels among Iranian and Polish nurses during the pandemic are different and are related to the intensity of contact with patients infected with COVID-19. Culture and context have an important impact on coping strategies which requires further studies with a multinational approach

Resilience and subjectively experienced stress among paramedics prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Paramedics play a vital role in the healthcare system by providing professional support in situations of direct threat to patient health and life. They experience numerous difficulties during their work, which result in occupational stress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, their work has become even more demanding. The aim of the current study was to examine the role of resilience in the subjective experience of stress among paramedics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: The study was carried out in two phases, in October-November 2019 (N = 75) and in May-June 2020 (N = 84), using the Sense of Stress Questionnaire (Skala Poczucia Stresu) and the Resilience Scale (Skala Pomiaru Prężności). Results: Paramedics exhibited higher intrapsychic stress before the COVID-19 pandemic. Tolerance of failure and treating life as a challenge were higher during the pandemic, in contrast to optimism and the ability to mobilize in difficult situations. Paramedics who were in contact with patients with COVID-19 experienced higher stress. Perseverance and determination, openness to new experiences and sense of humor, as well as competences and tolerance of negative emotions were revealed to play a key part in mitigating subjectively experienced stress. Conclusion: Paramedics’ subjectively experienced stress was lower during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paramedics who were in direct contact with patients with COVID-19 experienced higher stress. They had sufficient psychological resources, in the form of resilience (perseverance and determination, openness to new experiences, sense of humor, and competences and tolerance of negative emotions), which allowed them to cope with the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic

Coping strategies of footballers who have recovered from COVID-19 in five European countries

In the realm of sports performance, coping skills play a pivotal role, particularly within the stressinducing environment of sports. The aim of this research was to explore differences between football athletes who had tested positive for COVID-19 and athletes who had not contracted the virus in terms of their utilization of coping strategies. Additionally, differences among countries were investigated, in the case of football players who had, at some point, battled COVID-19. A total of 147 (one hundred and forty-seven) male football players from five European countries - Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania – took part in this study. To assess coping skills, we employed the Brief COPE questionnaire, which encompassed fourteen coping strategies, grouped into three categories: emotion-oriented coping strategies, problem/task-oriented strategies, and dysfunctional coping strategies. Using the Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner pairwise comparison test, the differences between the five countries were scrutinized, starting from the three dependent variables (the grouped coping strategies). Notably, football athletes from Poland and Romania exhibited a higher frequency of employing emotion-focused coping strategies (during the pandemic). Conversely, athletes from Italy leaned towards employing problem-focused strategies more frequently. No significant differences were observed in terms of dysfunctional coping strategies among football players who had battled COVID-19 across the five countries. We discussed the frequency of using coping strategies among football athletes who reported no infection with the SARS-COV-2 virus (up to the 4th wave of the pandemic) and those who had experienced COVID-19. The findings are of considerable interest to specialists, raising awareness on the coping skills employed by footballers during the pandemic