Levels of anxiety and hostility in South African Navy divers.
This study aimed to describe the levels of anxiety and hostility in a group of 45 SA Navy divers, by analysing their scores on an Anxiety Scale and Hostility and Directed Hostility Questionnaire. Results indicate that divers experience average anxiety compared with the norm groups. They have a higher urge for acting out their hostility, and are more critical of others than the norm group. Their overall hostility scores are higher than that of the general population. To determine if this differs from other naval personnel, the diver group was compared to a sample of 40 general navy sailors and 20 sport divers. The navy divers' scores displayed a higher urge to act out than the general navy, which in turn scored higher than the sport divers. Both the navy divers and general navy groups had higher total hostility scores than the civilian divers. It is concluded that the results are contextually appropriate, but not meaningful for selection of navy divers.
van Wijk
C H
CH
Department of Psychology Institute for Maritime Medicine, Private Bag X1, Simon's Town 7995, South Africa.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004242:Diving / Q000523:psychology*; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009326:Naval Medicine; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011592:Psychology, Military; D012016:Reference Values; D013019:South Africa; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires