Physiological behavior during stress anticipation across different chronic stress exposure adaptive models

Psychophysiological Stress Status of Soldiers Prior to an Operative Deployment

An anticipatory stress response develops before an internal or external stimulus, which initiates a homeostasis process through a chain of responses that enable human organisms to face different threats, thus allowing them to adapt to a continuous and eliciting environment. In the current research, we analyzed the psychophysiological anticipatory anxiety response of professional soldiers prior to a real mission in an actual theater of operation. Autonomic modulation through the heart rate variability values, muscular strength manifestation, and psychological stress of 53 military personnel of Army Airmobile Forces (age: M = 35.4 years, SD = 5.88 years; height: M = 1.75 m, SD = 6.87 cm; body mass: M = 77.33 kg, SD = 11.95 kg; military duty = 14.44 years, SD = 6.43; military operation experience = 4 months, SD = 4.25 months) and a control group of 33 civil participants were analyzed. The military personnel presented significant differences in some HRV values related to the activation of sympathetic systems. We found that the military personnel presented an anticipatory anxiety response only at an autonomic level, showing an increased sympathetic modulation, but not at a psychological level, since their anxiety levels were not significantly different than those of the control civilians. In addition, this anticipatory anxiety response did not affect muscular strength manifestation, as it presented no significant differences between the military personnel and the control group.

Moderating Role of Coping Style on the Relationship between Stress and Psychological Well-Being in Hong Kong Nursing Students

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To examine whether coping styles moderate the influence of stressors and psychological well-being in Hong Kong nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Stress could contribute to psychological distress in nursing students. Coping strategies are essential to mitigate psychological distress. So far, the moderating effects of coping between stressors and psychological well-being has not been thoroughly investigated.

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study conducted at four higher education institutions in Hong Kong.

METHODS

We recruited a convenience sample of 293 nursing students in February 2018. The Stressors in Nursing Students Scale-Chinese version (SINS-CN), Brief Cope Inventory-Chinese version (Brief COPE-C), and the Chinese version of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (C-GHQ-12) were used to measure the stressors, coping styles, and psychological well-being, respectively. Three multiple hierarchical linear regression models were used to identify the associations between the variables.

RESULTS

The stressors related to clinical learning, confidence, and personal problems were significant in explaining the psychological well-being. The coping strategies also predicted the psychological well-being and explained 44.5% of the variance. The coping strategy-accommodation-moderated the relationship between personal problems and psychological well-being.

CONCLUSION

Problem-solving and accommodation types of coping were adaptive to stress and effective in promoting psychological well-being. However, using accommodation to cope with stressors related to personal problems will exacerbate the negative effects of the personal problems on the psychological well-being.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

This study reveals the relationships between stressors, coping, and psychological well-being. Nurse educators must be aware of nursing student coping styles so they may devise strategies to promote effective coping to reduce the psychological distress among nursing students.