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The Chemical and Biological Warfare Environment: Psychological Responses and Social Supports in a High‐Stress Environment
Author(s) -
Fullerton Carol S.,
Ursano Robert J.,
Kao TzuCheg,
Bhartiya Vivek R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb01759.x
Subject(s) - psychology , psychological intervention , anxiety , intervention (counseling) , distress , stress (linguistics) , social support , clinical psychology , psychological distress , social psychology , trait anxiety , psychological stress , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy
In order to better understand psychological responses to high‐stress environments and the contributions of social supports to mediating the effects of this stress, we conducted a preliminary investigation of a health care delivery team in a simulated chemical and biological warfare (CBW) environment. Our data suggest that state anxiety prior to the exercise, perceived social support from family and friends, and active training stand out as predictors of psychological outcome, even after trait and pre‐exercise psychological variables are considered. Interventions directed at state anxiety and active training may offer mechanisms to decrease the psychological distress of the high‐stress environment. Future research should examine variables which are amenable to intervention to determine if they are causally related to health outcome in high‐stress environments.