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

Svajone Bekesiene, Rasa Smaliukiene, Ramutė Vaičaitienė, Asta Mažeikienė, Gerry Larsson, Dovilė Karčiauskaitė and Eglė Mazgelytė
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Svajone Bekesiene: General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania
Rasa Smaliukiene: General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania
Ramutė Vaičaitienė: General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania
Asta Mažeikienė: Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Gerry Larsson: Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Dovilė Karčiauskaitė: Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Eglė Mazgelytė: Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-13

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.

Keywords: perceived stress; military training; conscripts; hair steroid hormone; cortisol; personality traits; group cohesion; stress resilience; risk management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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