Smoking, BMI and psychological strain and fitness in the Naval Service.

BACKGROUND: Data from the Naval Service (NS) cohort study of psychological strain were extracted and analysed to investigate the relationship between self-reported health and lifestyle factors and medical fitness. Identification of factors associated with medical downgrading is of obvious value in shaping future health and safety policy and in understanding the relative contributions of physical and psychosocial factors to adverse occupational health outcomes. AIMS: To identify variables associated with a lack of fitness to serve. METHOD: Extraction and analysis of data from the Phase I of the study, with a binary outcome of fitness as the dependent variable, controlling for psychosocial and other confounders. RESULTS: Stepwise logistic regression analysis found statistically significant effects due to smoking, body mass index (BMI), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 and work-family conflict. The model accounted for 5.6% of the variance in medical grading, 3% of which was due to smoking. CONCLUSIONS: With psychosocial factors and GHQ-12 scores accounted for, personnel who were not fully fit for NS were found to be more likely to be smokers and to have a high BMI (> or =25).

Smoking and injury in Royal Marines' training.

BACKGROUND: Training for the Royal Marines (RMs) is considered to be one of the most arduous military training regimes in the world. Approximately 16% of the annual intake of recruits suffer an injury. Smoking has been found to be a predisposition to injury. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between recruits' smoking status on entry to training and subsequent incidence of injury. METHOD: Retrospective, longitudinal analysis of 1 year's intake of RM recruits at Commando Training Centre Royal Marines. RESULTS: A significantly greater proportion of RM recruits who were smokers on entry to training experienced a physical injury during the course than their non-smoking counterparts (chi-square = 8.15, P < 0.01). A recruit who smoked on entry to training was almost twice as likely to acquire an injury during training [relative risk = 1.7 (95% CI = 1.2-2.8)]. CONCLUSION: Smoking status of RM recruits in training was significantly associated with injury.

Emotion-related primary and secondary appraisals, adjustment and coping: associations in women awaiting breast disease diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: Different emotions are to some extent associated with different ways of coping. Cognitive processes involved in determining emotional reactions may influence coping (perhaps through directing attention or generating salient information). This study explored possible appraisal-coping associations by examining whether a set of appraisal components identified in emotion theory were also associated with coping. DESIGN: The study examined concurrent associations between appraisal components, emotional adjustment, and coping in 148 women with suspected breast disease. METHOD: Questionnaire measures of primary and secondary appraisal components identified in emotion theory, anxiety, depression, and coping were sent to women during the waiting period between GP referral and attendance at a 'one-stop' breast-disease diagnosis clinic. RESULTS: Consistent with expectations, appraisal components were associated with both emotions and coping. Elevated anxiety was associated with appraisals of low emotion-focused coping potential; avoidance coping was associated with motivational incongruence, self-accountability, and pessimistic appraisal of emotion-focused coping potential; acceptance/resignation coping was associated with self-accountability and pessimistic appraisals of both future expectancy and emotion-focused coping potential. CONCLUSION: This study presents a theoretically driven approach to exploring associations between emotions and adjustment efforts. In keeping with expectations, a number of appraisal components identified in emotion theory were found to be associated with both emotion and coping.