Recent life change measurement in Canadian Forces pilots

Area of Science:

• Aviation Psychology
• Occupational Health
• Stress Research

Background:

• Life change events are recognized contributors to stress, illness, and health changes in general and military populations.
• Understanding stress factors in aviators is crucial for developing tools to screen for accident-proneness.
• Life change events represent a potential area of focus for aviator stress assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To initiate the development of a management tool for screening accident-prone aviators.
• To investigate the prevalence and impact of life change events on stress levels in aviators.
• To establish a baseline for future research into aviator well-being and performance.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Holmes and Rahe Recent Life Change Questionnaire to 158 aviators (experimental group).
• Utilized two control groups: 127 ground crew (matched for age and location) and 46 individuals (matched for rank).
• Analyzed questionnaire data to compare life change event scores between aviators and control groups.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences in life change scores were found between the aviator group and either control group.
• Despite no group differences, the aviator population reported life change stress levels potentially indicative of health changes in 50% of the general population.
• Subgroup analyses revealed some significant differences, though not between the primary experimental and control groups.

Conclusions:

• The aviator population experiences a level of life change-induced stress that warrants further investigation.
• Excessive life change as a factor in aviator stress, illness, and accident risk requires continued study.
• This research provides a foundation for developing targeted interventions and screening tools for aviator well-being.