| Abstract: | Whilst all military cohorts have been seen to experience both physiological and psychological stressors during occupational duties, the naval service experience different stressors due the prolonged periods of time spent at sea. Research has analysed some of these stressors however many them have focused on how individuals are affected because of time spent in combat zones. The Irish Naval Service (INS) is an organisation under the Irish Defence Forces organi- sation and as such many of its physiological and psychological assessment procedures have come from the Defence Forces. Very limited research has been carried out in relation to the INS as a separate entity. As a result, the aims of this research were to:
- Create a physiological scoring system specifically for the INS
- Evaluate the baseline physiological levels of personnel within the INS and the impact certain variables have on physiological wellbeing
- Evaluate the psychological baseline levels of personnel within the INS and assess the impact certain variables are having on psychological wellbeing
In order to achieve these aims, personnel were assessed under three different headings: physical
fitness, body composition and psychological.
To assess physical fitness levels each participant completed physical fitness tests that assessed
various components of physical fitness. These included: flexibility (sit and reach test), power
(vertical jump test, standing long jump test), agility (pro agility test), strength (hand grip
strength, chin up test, push up test, sit up test), speed (over 5-metres, over 10-metres), anaerobic
conditioning (5-metre multiple shuttle run test), aerobic conditioning (multi-stage fitness test).
From the data produced because of these tests, a quantitative scoring system was created that
allows a comprehensive analysis of physical fitness to be conducted. The scoring system ena-
bled each participant to be scored out of a possible 30 points for each of the twelve tests com-
pleted. If all twelve tests are used then the maximum overall that could be obtain by any indi-
vidual is 360 points. The flexible nature of the scoring system allows for tests to be included or
excluded to suit the needs of the individual or the organisation. However, until research has
been conducted to assess which components of physical fitness are essential to occupational
performance, it is recommended that all components remain in the testing process.
iiiWhen the physical fitness data was compared to that of other military cohorts, personnel within
this study were seen to perform similarly or better, apart from the scores for the hand grip test
and the multi-stage fitness test. Vertical power (r=-0.525, p<0.005) and aerobic capacity (r=-
0.508, p<0.0005) were found to decrease as the number of years in the service increased. Also,
non-smokers were found to perform significantly better in relation to push up performance
when compared with smokers (p=0.025). Further research needs to investigate why the number
of years in the service is having an impact on physical fitness, especially since age was not
found to be a factor.
As already mentioned personnel within the INS spend prolonged periods of time at sea. As a
result, the environment on-board naval vessels can have an impact on physical fitness. Of the
four classes of vessels (coastal patrol vessel, helicopter patrol vessel, large patrol vessel and off
shore patrol vessel), the coastal patrol vessels were found to have the poorest fitness facilities
and individuals on-board these vessels exercised significantly less whilst at sea when compared
with shore based (p<0.005). Six factors were also identified as having an impact on the exercise
of participants whilst at sea. These were: time, fatigue/lack of sleep, motivation, lack of equip-
ment/space, workload/shift work and weather.
Body composition was assessed using several methods including body mass index (BMI), skin-
folds and waist to hip ratio. Body composition was found to increase as age increased and as
the number of years in the service increased. Body composition was also found to be higher for
smokers than non-smokers, however, this had not reached a significant level yet. The amount
of time spent exercising was found to have a positive impact on body composition apart from
BMI with which it had no correlation. This may indicate that BMI is not suitable for use within
the INS due to the muscular body composition.
Three questionnaires were used to assess various aspects of psychological wellbeing. These
were: GHQ-12 (used to assess general mental health), NEO-FFI (used to assess personality
traits) and CISS (used to assess the ability to cope in stressful situations). Results showed that
the longer an individual spent in the INS the more likely they were of having a common mental
health disorder. Avoidance was used as the most common coping mechanism for stressful sit-
uations, however, the use of this mechanism was found to decrease with age. The highest per-
ivcentage of participants scored in the ‘high’ category for extraversion and in the average cate-
gory for the other four personality types (neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness
and conscientiousness).
High scores for neuroticism were found to be linked to poor levels of general mental health and
those who scored high were also found to use emotion or social diversion coping styles in
stressful situations. In contrast, high levels of conscientiousness were linked to good general
mental health and individuals who scored high for conscientiousness were also found to use
task related coping to deal with stressful situations. These results could indicate that the NEO-
FFI could be used as a recruitment or promotional tool within the INS. |
@HalpinCentre
