Personal resilience: measuring psychological and biological stress during military conscription in the period of COVID-19 outbreak
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Rasa Smaliukiene
The General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania Lithuania
rasa.smaliukiene@lka.lt
Author(s):
The influence of social distancing on everyday life and people ability to manage stress and demonstrate personal resilience has been widely discussed among researchers during the last two years. Despite the increased scope of research in the field, there are still a few gaps that need to be covered. The research on the impact of COVID-19 on population mental health usually are focused solely on demographic characteristics of society (elderly, children, etc.); little attention is paid to the groups of people who are united by a common professional, hobby or voluntary activity. Second, personal resilience is measured using the subjective opinion of the respondents without comparing levels psychological and biological stress.
Our research proposes to partially fill this gap by measuring personal residence during military conscription held during COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on a specific group of young people who spent nine months in military service in “service bubbles”, minimizing contact with the environment, relatives, and between conscript groups themselves. Using a random sample of 17 groups (squads) of totally 164 conscripts, we measured personal resilience to a numerous changes and trials that occured during the conscript service in the period of COVID-19 outbreak.
Personal resilience was measured using innovative methods that combine non-invasive biomedical tests and psychological inventory. The longitudinal study lasted the entire period of service (9 months). Non-invasive biomedical tests using human hair ware used to identify the level of stress hormone (cortisol) and to measure the level of biological stress in conscripts’ bodies; while validated instruments for measuring the perception of stress were used to identify the level of psychological stress. The combination of measurement of physical and psychological stress levels allowed us to observe how personal resilience helped the research participants to adapt to new conditions.
The research findings show that personal resilience ensures a successful return to a normal level of stress even before the stressful situation ends. Already after the first four months, we found a significant decrease in biological stress, while the level of psychological stress continued to rise insignificantly. This conclusion is interesting: the biological response to the stressful environment is adaptive, while the psychological (subjective) response may vary among healthy young people engaged in the same activity.
(This research was funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT) under project agreement No S-MIP-20- 59.)
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on population mental health: International perspectives