Chronic and acute psychological strain in naval personnel

Previous surveys have shown that there is a greater prevalence of psychological strain in Naval personnel than in the general population and have described the main psychosocial stressors associated with strain.

To determine the prevalence of acute strain and of repeated episodes of strain over 6- and 12-month periods.

Six and twelve months after completing a Phase I Work and Well-Being questionnaire, 2596 personnel were reassessed using a follow-up General Health Questionnaire-12.

The response rates at 6 and 12 months ranged from 51 to 60%. There was no evidence of response bias at follow-up. The prevalence of acute strain was 31% at Phase I. After 6 months, approximately half of strain cases had recovered. Only 10% had strain over the entire period. Change in strain was linked to change in work role.

Accumulation of strain and recovery occur within 6 months depending on change in work role. Management of strain might best be achieved by management of work demands and deployment length. Further studies will investigate the rate of accumulation of strain over the course of demanding deployments. Exposure to psychosocial stressors such as effort reward imbalance accounted for much of the difference between chronic strain sufferers and those with no strain.