Stress, distress and air traffic incidents: job dysfunction and distress in airline pilots in relation to contextually-assessed stress

✍ Scribed by Loewenthal, Kate Miriam ;Eysenck, Michael ;Harris, Duncan ;Lubitsh, Guy ;Gorton, Tessa ;Bicknell, Helen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 88 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0748-8386
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1700(200004)16:3<179::aid-smi851>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

This study used contextual stress measurement to look at the occupational sequelae of stress. One hundred and ®ve civil aviation pilots were interviewed. Events and dif®culties were dated and rated for contextual threat; dating information was also obtained for distress symptoms and air traf®c incidents. There were signi®cant relationships between stress and air incidents, between stress and distress, and between distress and incidents. Some symptoms (sleep disturbances, loss of energy and tiredness) were more likely to be associated with reported incidents than others. The results are in line with previous suggestions that the effect of stress on job performance is via distress. Distress-related sleep disturbances may be particularly crucial. Further work using contextual stress measurement is needed to clarify the causal pathways involved.