| Military pilots are a special group, engaged in high-altitude, high-speed, high-tension, high-risk occupations, with peculiarity as compared with other military careers. The pilots always work in the relatively closed environments and the scenes of the simulated war, and they are always challenged by the heavy mental and behavior pressures. Especially, under the modern high technique war, the level of the mental health will directly affect combat effectiveness of flight troop .In recent years we have found that in clinical work, the emerging social anxiety problems in pilots upward trend. Social anxiety problems not only produce pilots subjective tension, and hamper their social activities, and decline their social initiative, have seriously affected their physical and mental health, reduced the quality of living and marriage. Therefore, strengthening the studies of social anxiety in pilots, relieving the effect to working and living, is great realistic significance to enhancing the combat effectiveness of the flight troop.AIM: The research work is to investigate the social anxiety situation of pilots during convalescence, to study its associated psychosocial factors, to provide a scientific basis for clinical psychological counseling and treatment, to improve the mental health level of flight troop, to ensure the smooth completion of the training mission.Methods: Using Social Avoidance and Distress Scale(SAD), Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF),Symptom Checklist 90(SCL-90),Life Event Scale(LES),Trait Coping Style Questionnaire(TCSQ),Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS)and personal information questionnaire,476 pilots were tested and investigated in Air Convalescent Zone, Hangzhou Sanatorium, Nanjing Military District from November 2006 to April 2007.Data were analyzed by statistical package for social sciences(SPSS15.0).Result:1. The pilots'score was 5.42±4.93 in SAD, 3.42±2.73 in social avoidance(SA), 2.00±2.66 in social distress(SD), lower than the national norm of college students (9.89±6.06,5.06±3.36,4.87±3.41);16 points as the demarcation line of SAD, slightly early screening out 17 pilots as social anxiety patients(3.71%),the ratio was significantly lower than the investigation outcome of different student groups by the domestic scholars in the same period. SA and SD of transport group were significantly higher than other aircrafts group; SD of the pilots group whose flight time was less than 300 hours was significantly higher than other groups; SD of diseases group was significantly higher than the health group.2. Compared with the nationwide norm, this study indicated that the scores of the pilots were higher in sociality, intelligence, stability, stubbornness, excitability, perseverance, boldness, experience, self-restraint. Lower in sensitivity, suspicion, worry, independence, nervousness. The results showed there was significant relationship between SA and SD with stubbornness, excitability, boldness, worry of 16PF, correlation coefficients were all bigger than 0.343.3. The pilots'all factor scores of SCL-90 were significantly lower than the military group norm and the nationwide norm, and high positively correlated with SA and SD, particularly SD whose correlation coefficients were all bigger than 0.251.4. The pilots'total score was 31.00±49.67 of LES, 183 pilots exceeded 20 points(39.96%),125 pilots exceeded 32 points(27.29%).The score was 31.00±49.67 in the family problems, 31.00±49.67 in the working and learning problems, 31.00±49.67 in social problems. The results showed there was significant relationship between SA and SD with negative family, working and learning, social problems, particularly working and learning problems(correlation coefficients were 0.151 and 0.275)5. The pilots'score in Positive Coping Styles factor (PC) of TCSQ was significantly higher than the healthy norm and patients norm, and their score in Negative Coping Styles factor (NC) was significantly lower. PC was high negatively correlated with SA and SD(correlation coefficients were -0.267and -0.218), NC was high positively correlated with SA and SD(correlation coefficients were 0.362and 0.736),6. The pilots'total score was 67.91±7.69 of PSSS: including 23.43±3.15 in family support, 24.22±2.35 in friends support, 20.22±3.86 in other support. SD was high negatively correlated with friends support(correlation coefficient was -0.116), positively correlated with other support(correlation coefficient was 0.163).SA had no relationship with PSSS.7. It was showed in the multiple correlation regression analysis that excitability, perseverance, boldness and negative coping styles made more contribution to SA(standardized coefficients were -0.346,0.230,-0.219,0.209 in turn), negative coping styles, excitability, social support and boldness made more contribution to SD(standardized coefficients were 0.591, -0.324, 0.185, -0.129 in turn).Conclusion: There are relative social anxiety problems in pilots, particularly the transport pilots and the pilots who have just started flying. Social anxiety in pilots is affected by personality, mental health, life event, coping style, social support and other psychosocial factors. It was showed in the multiple correlation regression analysis that lower excitability made the greatest contribution to the social avoidance, negative coping style made the greatest contribution to the social distress.Therefore, we should put these factors into the whole psychological counseling and treatment system.
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