Full text of DOI:10.1177/00139160021972432

EP eNr iV eI tR aOl . N/ MI T EA NL TI A AN N AD N BT EA HR AC VT II OC RC A/ JMa Pn Au aI Gr yN 2S 000
PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT
IN THE ITALIAN ANTARCTIC
SUMMER CAMPAIGNS
ANTONIO PERI holds the rank of captain in the Medical Corps of the Italian Navy.
He was responsible for the psychological selection of the applicants to the first Italian
Antarctic expeditions. He is currently involved in several national and international
research projects on psychosocial adjustment in extreme environments. He was re-
cently named secretary of the Working Group on Human Biology and Medicine, Sci-
entific Committee on Antarctic Research.
CRISTINA SCARLATA received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of
Rome in 1995. She contributed to the psychological Antarctic research activities.
MARTA BARBARITO received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of
Buenos Aires in 1979. She is currently responsible for the psychology area in the
Argentine Antarctic Institute, particularly for the psychological selection and prepa-
ration of the applicants. She is involved in national and international Antarctic psy-
chology projects. Her research interests focus on psychosocial adjustment of person-
nel in the Argentine Antarctic stations.
ABSTRACT: Up until now, no significant emotional or cognitive modifications have
been found in psychological studies performed during Italian Antarctic summer cam-
paigns, which last from 2 to 5 months. A substantial emotional stability and a general
satisfactory adjustment of the expedition participants emerged in the research. To
investigate the coping strategies used to deal with the Antarctic environment, the Pro-
file of Mood States (POMS) and the Ways of Coping Inventory were administered to a
group of 11 Italian expeditioners before leaving and before returning from the cam-
paign. The results confirm the emotional stability found in the previous studies and
show a decrease of several ways of coping. Particularly, there was a decrease in seek-
ing social support and in problem-focused coping. The discussion and interpretation
of the findings are reported, and the hypothesis of a frozen reactivity mediated by a
possible perceptual defense is suggested.
ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR, Vol. 32 No. 1, January 2000 72-83
©
2000 Sage Publications, Inc.
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Peri et al. / ITALIAN ANTARCTIC CAMPAIGNS 73
Italy has been one of the last countries in the world to organize national
expeditions to Antarctica. This was due to several reasons, including the geo-
graphical distance and the lack of historical, political, and economical inter-
ests in that region. The Italian summer station called Baia Terra Nova, located
on the western coast of the Ross Sea (74°41’42” S, 164°07’23” E), was built
only in 1986 and progressively enlarged in the following years. The Italian
National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) and its agency, Progetto
Antartide, have carried out 13 summer expeditions; in the last few years,
some of them were to places that are among the most hostile and extreme in
the world, such as Dome C (75°06’ S, 123°23’ E) on the Antarctic Plateau.
The summer period in Antarctic expeditions is quite different from the winter
period in a number of ways (Misichia, 1991; Taylor, 1987), apart from the
continuous daylight. In that period, which lasts from 2 to 5 months, the Italian
station usually houses about 70 people who are involved in varied and inten-
sive logistical (air, sea, and land operations) and research (earth science,
physics of the atmosphere, cosmology, biology and medicine, oceanography,
environmental science, technology, etc.) activities, often in competition for
the available logistical resources. The general atmosphere is characterized by
human hyperactivity from the high workload (numerous tasks and 12 work-
ing hours per day) affecting every participant, time pressure from the need to
take the greatest advantage of the favorable weather conditions during the
summer season, and continuous social changes from the frequent rotation of
research personnel (who usually stay not more than 2 months). The contem-
porary presence of various field camps makes the psychosocial situation
more complex and variable. Due to this very dynamic situation, it is very dif-
ficult to schedule and carry out systematic research programs that need a real
collaboration of people, to administer tests in the proper time and place, to
make behavioral observations to assess individual adjustment, and to do
interviews and so forth. On the contrary, this would be somewhat easier in the
winter.
For these reasons, very few systematic psychological studies were per-
formed in the Italian Antarctic communities where, fortunately, psychiatric
casualties have never been reported and the socioemotional climate, as evalu-
ated by the expedition medical officers, has always been appraised as satis-
factory up to this time (Peri, 1996).
In accordance with the medical officers’ empirical observations, a pre-
liminary psychosocial debriefing (Peri, Barbarito, Barattoni, Nisi, & Ruffini,
1
998), effectuated on a small sample of Italian expeditioners coming from
Terra Nova Bay station and from the summer camp of Dome C, confirmed a
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ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR / January 2000
highly satisfactory physical, psychological, social, and occupational adapta-
tion. Similar results were obtained from an investigation concerning the life
conditions in the Italian expeditions in which the positive effect of the infor-
mation and preparation courses was emphasized (Peri, Ruffini, et al., 1998).
Another preliminary psychometric study (Peri & Tortora, 1989) carried out
in the Italian expeditions to assess the possible cognitive, emotional modifi-
cations of the expeditioners during their Antarctic stay showed a substantial
emotional stability and no reduction of the attention and concentration abil-
ity. In fact, the negative emotional states (anxiety, depression, anger) (Peri,
1
988) were firmly low during the entire period, and the positive emotional
states (tranquillity, satisfaction, agreeableness) decreased, but not signifi-
cantly, at the end of the campaign. The same decreasing trend affected the
physical well-being. A possible hypothesis was taken into consideration to
explain the emotional stability, in addition to the effective selection and
preparation of the personnel, to the satisfactory life conditions; this was the
propensity to defensiveness, to deny the difficulties, as observed in the Inter-
national Biomedical Expedition to Antarctica (IBEA) group (Rivolier, Gold-
smith, Lugg, & Taylor, 1989). This trend could suggest a general emotional
withdrawal during the expedition time, a self-distancing from positive feel-
ings to protect the participants from possible frustrating events. To investi-
gate the coping strategies used by the Italian expedition members to deal in
such an apparently satisfactory manner with the Antarctic environment,
another pilot study was considered and implemented.
METHODOLOGY
THE SAMPLE
The sample consisted of 11 male volunteer subjects who spent 2 to 5
months in the Italian coastal station of Terra Nova Bay (eight subjects) and in
the field camp of Dome C (three subjects) on the Antarctic Plateau. Their bio-
graphical data and job in the Antarctic expedition are reported in Table 1.
INSTRUMENTS
The instruments used were the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and the
Ways of Coping Inventory.
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Peri et al. / ITALIAN ANTARCTIC CAMPAIGNS 75
TABLE 1
Biographical Data of Volunteer Subjects
Subject
Number Age
Marital
Status
Number of
Polar Seasons
Education
Occupation
Technician
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
1
50 Primary
40 Degree in engineering Researcher
50 Degree in engineering Staff
42 Secondary
45 Postsecondary
42 Secondary
49 Secondary
37 Postsecondary
50 Secondary
Married
Single
4
3
6
6
3
3
0
2
5
1
8
Married
Married
Married
Married
Married
Married
Married
Single
Technician
Technician
Technician
Technician
Staff
Technician
0
1
42 Degree in engineering Staff
51 Degree in engineering Staff
Married
POMS. The Italian version of POMS (Mc Nair, Lorr, & Droppleman,
971/1991) is a 58-item self-report mood questionnaire that obtains data on
1
six factors: tension-anxiety (T), depression-dejection (D), anger-hostility
A), vigor-activity (V), fatigue-inertia (S), and confusion-bewilderment (C).
(
The instructions ask the subjects to describe how they felt in the last week
according to a scale from 0 to 4. The test seems to be very sensitive to the
effects of experimental conditions in normal subjects, and it proved to be a
very useful instrument for investigating special conditions like the polar envi-
ronment (Palinkas, Suedfeld, & Steel, 1995).
Ways of Coping Inventory (revised). The Ways of Coping Inventory
(Scheier, Weintraub, & Carver, 1986) is a self-report measure of a broad
range of coping strategies. It is one of the tests included in the Polar Psychol-
ogy Project (Suedfeld, Bernaldez, & Stossel, 1989), and it was translated to
Italian by one of the authors. It consists of 67 items and the format response is
a 4-point (1 to 4) Likert scale. The instructions ask the subjects to describe the
most stressful situation that they have encountered in the last 2 months.
PROCEDURE
The Ways of Coping Inventory and the POMS were administered to the
subjects before their departure and at the end of the Antarctic campaign.
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ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR / January 2000
RESULTS
The statistical elaboration of the data was carried out using the Student’s
test for matched pairs.
In the following tables, M1 and M2 represent respectively the means
obtained from the first and the second administration.
POMS
In Table 2, the average value of the six factors of the POMS obtained from
the first (M1) and the second (M2) administration are reported.
No significant difference (p < .05) was found between the two phases.
However, in front of the substantial stability of the negative emotional vari-
ables (tension, depression, and hostility), a small increase of confusion and
fatigue and a small reduction of vigor can be observed.
WAYS OF COPING
The average value of every item obtained in the first and second admini-
stration of the test is reported in Table 3. Significant differences (p < .05) were
found between the two administrations on 11 items out of the 67 that com-
pose the entire test. The differences between the means are from 0.44 to 1.20;
they are negative in 48 items and positive in only 9 items. No modifications
are in the remaining 10 items. The result for coping strategies, based on seek-
ing social support (Items 8, 31, and 42; p < .05) and on problem analysis and
solution (Items 2, 26, 39, 48, and 52; p < .10), decreased significantly. The
rare ways of coping that had results that were increased, although not signifi-
cantly, are represented by acceptance (Items 12 and 53) and by the attempt to
get something positive from the situation (Item 5).
DISCUSSION
The substantial stability in the experimental group of emotional variables
(tension, depression, anger) assessed by the POMS confirms the emotional
stability observed in the previous studies (Peri, Barbarito, et al., 1998; Peri &
Tortora, 1989). A small increase in the Fatigue and Confusion scales (factors)
and a small decrease in the Vigor scale, both statistically nonsignificant,
could represent the first symptoms of a forthcoming exhaustion or depres-
sion. A longer stay could probably evidence a significant increase of the
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Peri et al. / ITALIAN ANTARCTIC CAMPAIGNS 77
TABLE 2
Values of the Six Factors of the Profile of Mood States Obtained
From the First (M1) and the Second (M2) Administration of the Test
Factors
M1 (SD)
M2 (SD)
M2 – M1 SD Student’s t
p
Tension-anxiety (T)
Depression-
41.73 (4.41) 41.45 (4.13)
–0.27 4.22 –0.214 .835
dejection (D)
42.09 (1.14) 42.55 (1.75)
43.09 (3.75) 43.91 (5.11)
62.82 (7.04) 58.73 (6.60)
40.18 (2.93) 42.91 (6.73)
0.45 1.75
0.82 3.40
–4.09 9.19 –1.476 .171
0.860 .410
0.798 .433
Anger-hostility (A)
Vigor-activity (V)
Fatigue-inertia (S)
Confusion-
2.73 6.26
1.444 .179
bewilderment (C)
37.27 (4.24) 40.36 (6.90)
3.09 7.71
1.329 .213
emotional variables. The decrease of positive emotional states found in the
previous psychometric study seems to support this interpretation, that is, the
moderate but progressive exhaustion of emotional control.
These results could be easily explained by the hypotheses mentioned in
the introduction, namely, having an effective selection and preparation
process aimed at recruiting suitable and resistant-to-stress personnel, envi-
ronmental conditions that are not particularly difficult, and personnel with a
propensity for denying emotional problems. However, a further contribution
to the comprehension of the psychological adaptive mechanisms used by the
expedition participants was expected to be derived from the investigation of
the role played by the coping strategies. In fact, the investigation of these
aspects offers us the most interesting results about the psychological adjust-
ment. A comparison between the correspondent items of the Ways of Coping
Inventory administered before and at the end of the expedition shows that,
where there is a significant modification, it is always negative. The general
trend seems to be a less frequent use of several ways of coping during the Ant-
arctic campaign. This trend is partially confirmed by the fact that, although
the difference between the means (M1 and M2) is not significant, it is nega-
tive (71% of items) in most cases. Therefore, in this Antarctic group, one can
recognize a general tendency to have less response to stress situations, a sort
of frozen reactivity. The low response to stimuli can be explained by assum-
ing a kind of perceptual defense (Levine & Shefner, 1981) against the
unwanted stimuli, an increased threshold that is just like a freezing (Bar-
barito, 1998), the effect of which is to reduce the expenditure of energy. The
strategies that seem to involve an active effort on the part of expedition par-
ticipants, such as seeking social support and problem-focused coping, appear
(text continues on p. 81)
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ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR / January 2000
TABLE 3
Values of Every Item Obtained in the First (M1)
and Second (M2) Administration of the Test
Item
M1 (SD)
M2 (SD) M2 – M1 SD Student’s t p
Just concentrated on what
I had to do next—the
next step
3.30 (0.82) 2.70 (0.82) –0.60 1.17 –1.616 .140
3.50 (0.53) 3.00 (0.94) –0.50 0.85 –1.861 .096*
2.56 (1.13) 2.00 (0.87) –0.56 1.74 –0.958 .366
I tried to analyze the
problem in order to
understand it better
Turned to work or
substitute activity to
take my mind off things
I felt that time would
make a difference—the
only thing to do was
to wait
Bargained or compromised
to get something positive
from the situation
I did something which I did
not think would work, but
at least I was doing
something
1.80 (1.14) 1.90 (0.99) 0.10 1.52 0.208 .840
2.00 (0.94) 2.40 (1.07) 0.40 1.35 0.937 .373
1.20 (0.42) 1.20 (0.42) 0.00 0.67 0.000 1.00
1.90 (0.99) 1.90 (0.88) 0.00 1.63 0.000 1.00
Tried to get the person
responsible to change
his or her mind
Talked to someone to find
out more about the
situation
Criticized or lectured
myself
3.50 (0.53) 2.80 (0.92) –0.70 0.95 –2.333 .045**
1.60 (0.70) 1.60 (0.70) 0.00 0.67 0.000 1.00
Tried not to burn my
bridges, but leave things
open somewhat
Hoped a miracle
would happen
3.50 (0.53) 2.30 (0.67) – 1.20 0.79 –4.811 .001**
1.30 (0.67) 1.00 (0.00) –0.30 0.67 –1.406 .193
Went along with fate;
sometimes, I just have
bad luck
Went on as if nothing
had happened
1.20 (0.42) 1.30 (0.48) 0.10 0.74 0.429 .678
2.10 (1.10) 1.80 (0.92) –0.30 0.82 –1.152 .279
2.33 (0.87) 2.22 (0.83) –0.11 1.05 –0.316 .760
I tried to keep my feelings
to myself
Looked for the silver lining,
so to speak; tried to look
on the bright side of things 3.20 (0.79) 3.10 (0.32) –0.10 0.74 –0.429 .678
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Peri et al. / ITALIAN ANTARCTIC CAMPAIGNS 79
TABLE 3 Continued
Item
M1 (SD)
M2 (SD) M2 – M1 SD Student’s t p
Slept more than usual
I expressed anger to the
person(s) who caused
the problem
Accepted sympathy and
understanding from
someone
1.44 (0.73) 1.33 (0.50) –0.11 0.60 –0.555 .594
1.30 (0.48) 1.40 (0.52) 0.10 0.74 0.429 .678
2.40 (0.84) 2.20 (0.79) –0.20 1.14 –0.557 .591
I told myself things that
helped me to feel better 2.70 (0.95) 2.10 (0.57) –0.60 0.84 –2.250 .051**
I was inspired to do
something creative
Tried to forget the
whole thing
I got professional help
Changed or grew as a
person in a good way
I waited to see what
would happen before
doing anything
I apologized or did
something to make up
I made a plan of action
and followed it
I accepted the next best
thing to what I wanted
I let my feelings out
somehow
3.20 (0.63) 2.90 (0.74) –0.30 1.16 –0.818 .434
1.90 (1.45) 2.00 (1.05) 0.10 0.74 0.429 .678
3.10 (0.88) 2.50 (0.97) –0.60 1.51 –1.260 .239
3.30 (0.67) 2.80 (1.14) –0.50 1.51 –1.048 .322
1.90 (0.74) 2.00 (1.05) 0.10 1.29 0.246 .811
2.50 (1.08) 1.70 (0.82) –0.80 1.23 –2.058 .070*
3.50 (0.53) 2.60 (0.84) –0.90 0.99 –2.862 .019**
3.10 (0.74) 2.40 (0.70) –0.70 1.06 –2.090 .066*
2.70 (0.67) 2.50 (0.85) –0.20 1.03 –0.612 .555
3.10 (0.57) 3.00 (0.82) –0.10 0.88 –0.361 .726
Realized I brought the
problem on myself
I came out of the
experience better than
I went in
3.30 (0.48) 2.90 (0.99) –0.40 0.97 –1.309 .223
Talked to someone who
could do something
concrete about the
problem
Got away from it for a
while; tried to rest or
take a vacation
3.22 (0.83) 2.22 (0.83) –1.00 1.32 –2.268 .053**
1.50 (0.71) 1.10 (0.32) –0.40 0.70 –1.809 .104
Tried to make myself better
by eating, drinking,
smoking, using drugs
or medication, etc.
Took a big chance or did
something very risky
1.10 (0.32) 1.00 (0.00) –0.10 0.32 –1.000 .343
1.10 (0.32) 1.00 (0.00) –0.10 0.32 –1.000 .343
(continued)
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ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR / January 2000
TABLE 3 Continued
Item
M1 (SD)
M2 (SD) M2 – M1 SD Student’s t p
I tried not to act too hastily
or follow my first hunch
Found new faith
2.40 (1.26) 2.10 (0.99) –0.30 1.57 –0.605 .560
1.00 (0.00) 1.00 (0.00) 0.00
Maintained my pride and
kept a stiff upper lip
Rediscovered what is
important in life
2.56 (0.88) 2.44 (1.01) –0.11 0.78 –0.426 .681
2.78 (0.67) 2.67 (0.71) –0.11 0.60 –0.555 .594
Changed something so
things would turn up
all right
Avoided being with people
in general
3.33 (0.71) 2.44 (0.73) –0.89 0.60 –4.438 .002**
1.11 (0.33) 1.00 (0.00) –0.11 0.33 –1.000 .347
Did not let it get to me;
refused to think too
much about it
I asked a relative or friends
I respected for advice
Kept others from knowing
how bad things were
Made light of the situation;
refused to get too serious
about it
2.00 (0.71) 1.78 (0.97) –0.22 0.83 –0.800 .447
3.33 (0.87) 2.56 (1.13) –0.78 0.67 –3.500 .008**
1.56 (0.53) 1.22 (0.44) –0.33 0.71 –1.414 .195
1.89 (0.93) 1.56 (0.73) –0.33 0.50 –2.000 .081*
2.56 (0.88) 2.44 (0.53) –0.11 0.60 –0.555 .594
Talked to someone about
how I was feeling
Stood my ground and
fought for what I wanted 3.00 (1.12) 2.56 (1.01) –0.44 0.88 –1.512 .169
Took it out on other people 1.00 (0.00) 1.11 (0.33) 0.11 0.33 1.000 .347
Drew on my past
experiences; I was in
a similar situation before 3.11 (0.60) 2.56 (0.73) –0.56 0.73 –2.294 .051**
I knew what had to be done,
so I doubled my efforts to
make things work
Refused to believe that it
had happened
3.38 (0.74) 3.25 (0.71) –0.13 0.83 –0.424 .685
1.11 (0.33) 1.11 (0.33) 0.00
I made a promise to myself
that things would be
different next time
2.11 (0.78) 2.11 (0.93) 0.00 1.50 0.000 1.00
Came up with couple of
different solutions to the
problem
Accepted it, because
nothing could be done
2.89 (0.60) 1.89 (0.78) – 1.00 1.00 –3.000 .017**
1.33 (0.50) 1.78 (0.83) 0.44 0.88 1.512 .169
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Peri et al. / ITALIAN ANTARCTIC CAMPAIGNS 81
TABLE 3 Continued
Item
M1 (SD)
M2 (SD) M2 – M1 SD Student’s t p
I tried to keep my feeling
from interfering with other
things too much
2.56 (1.13) 2.11 (0.93) –0.44 0.73 –1.835 .104
Wished that I could change
what had happened or
how I felt
I changed something
about myself
2.11 (0.78) 1.89 (0.78) –0.22 1.39 –0.478 .645
1.89 (0.78) 1.67 (0.87) –0.22 0.67 –1.000 .347
I daydreamed or imagined
a better time or place than
the one I was in
Wished that the situation
would go away or somehow
be over with
1.56 (0.73) 1.56 (0.73) 0.00 0.87 0.000 1.00
2.33 (1.00) 1.89 (0.78) –0.44 0.53 –2.530 .035**
Had fantasies or wishes
about how things might
turn out
1.44 (0.73) 1.67 (0.71) 0.22 0.83 0.800 .447
1.44 (0.53) 1.44 (0.53) 0.00
I prayed
I prepared myself for
the worst
2.67 (1.00) 2.11 (1.05) –0.56 0.73 –2.294 .051**
2.78 (0.97) 2.78 (1.09) 0.00 0.71 0.000 1.00
I went over in my mind
what I would say or do
I thought about how a
person I admire would
handle this situation and
used that as a model
I tried to see things from
2.22 (0.97) 1.89 (0.93) –0.33 1.00 –1.000 .347
the other’s point of view 2.56 (0.88) 2.00 (1.00) –0.56 1.33 –1.250 .247
I reminded myself how
much worse things
could be
2.44 (0.73) 2.22 (0.83) –0.22 0.83 –0.800 .447
2.22 (1.30) 1.67 (0.87) –0.56 1.59 –1.048 .325
I jogged or exercised
I tried something entirely
different from any of the
above (please describe) 1.29 (0.49) 1.29 (0.49) 0.00 0.58 0.000 1.00
*p ≤ .10. **p ≤ .05.
to have diminished. The expeditioners probably tend to invest much less,
from an emotional point of view, in what goes on around them to protect
themselves from frustration and from emotional deprivation that often
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ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR / January 2000
characterizes the situation in Antarctica. All the findings collected up to now
seem to support this kind of emotional leveling (Barbarito, 1998) that is typi-
cal of personnel returning from an Antarctic campaign. The invariability of
some psychophysiological parameters, such as the heart rate and the galvanic
skin response, observed in the same group before and after the campaign
(Peri, Scarlata, et al., 1998)andbefore andafter the administrationofa cogni-
tive stressor, make one consider the possibility that this emotional freezing is
global and not only subjective and experiential.
An experience like that lived in Antarctica is absolutely original and unre-
peatable, according to most of the people who have been there (irreparably
affected by the so-called mal d’Antartide [Misichia, 1991], i.e., the nostalgia
for Antarctica). This would normally lead one to imagine some tangible
effects on the variables in question; however, this was not verified.
CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES
The smallness of the sample examined obviously prevents the generaliza-
tion of the results obtained. However, the fact that some modifications evi-
denced in the Ways of Coping Inventory have been statistically significant,
despite the reduced number of subjects, leads one to suppose that the repeti-
tion of the research on a larger sample would give ulterior confirmations to
what has been found in this investigation. In any case, the results lead one to
think that, in this Italian Antarctic group, there is a more or less conscious ten-
dency to use certain ways of reacting to stressful events with different fre-
quency when compared to usual situations. An empirical support of the
findings of the research comes from informal conversations made with vet-
eran expeditioners. In fact, they report that they somehow noticed a phe-
nomenon that they were not able to describe precisely. The feeling that they
express is a lack of interest in what goes on around them, especially for unim-
portant matters. This seems to happen even when they are aware that, in other
times, their behavior would be different. According to the veterans’accounts,
this lack of interest is considered completely normal and is usually ignored.
The people who probably induce a kind of introspection and self-analysis
through their continuous requests aimed at promoting a quick return to nor-
mality are the loved ones, the relatives, and the friends. Certainly, it could be
interesting to program other research to confirm the results, and if so, to carry
out a follow-up to verify how long the increased threshold of reactivity lasts
in the expeditioners after returning from Antarctica.
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