Influence of attitude and expectation on moods and symptoms during cold weather military training

The present study examined the influence of the following: 1) air temperature, 2) day into training, 3) self rating of life stress, 4) rating of relative warmth in cold weather, and 5) expectation for liking cold weather training, on 59 soldiers' self-reports of illness and mood during 3 days of training in the cold (-18 degrees to 0 degree C range). Mood was assessed on six domains of the Profile of Mood States rating scale, and symptoms of illness were assessed on 5 domains of the Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses showed that: 1) the more soldiers expected to dislike the cold weather training, the more tense, depressed, angry, fatigued, and physically uncomfortable they were during training; 2) the more stress they perceived in their everyday lives, the more fatigued, confused, and physically uncomfortable they were during training; 3) as days into training increased the more fatigued and physically uncomfortable they became; and 4) due to appropriate clothing and training, ambient temperature was found to have no significant influence on the soldiers' moods and symptoms.