Levels of Anxiety aboard Two Expeditionary Ships

Abstract

Previous studies conducted in the Antarctic have tended to focus on negative effects of the environment rather than on coping and stress resistance of crew members. The present study of participants aboard two expeditionary ships (n = 34 and n = 19) in Antarctic waters indicated that anxiety levels decreased when participants experienced a stressful event, suggesting that group homogeneity, the capacity to cope with unusual situations, and perhaps previous experience in remote locations are associated with low situational anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970).