Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania.
General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 22;18(22):12239. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182212239.
This study aimed to analyse the association between endogenous hair steroid hormones as reliable biological indicators of an individual's stress level and the social environmental factors experienced during military training that are manifested at the beginning of compulsory military service. Hair steroid hormone concentrations-cortisol, cortisone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and testosterone-in a group of 185 conscripts were measured using the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. Six subjective social environmental factors in the military-attitude towards the military and military service, adaptation to the military environment, team, task, and norm cohesion, as well as psychological (un)safety in the group-were evaluated using military-specific research questionnaires. Weak but significant negative correlations were identified between cortisol and adaptation (r = -0.176, < 0.05), attitude (r = -0.147, < 0.05) as well as between testosterone and task cohesion (r = -0.230, < 0.01) levels. Additionally, a multiple forward stepwise regression analysis highlighted that cortisone variation might be partially explained by task cohesion; the DHEA-determined by psychological (un)safety in the group, attitude towards the military and military service, and norm cohesion; and the testosterone-determined by task cohesion and adaptation to the new military environment. The results of this study suggest that subjective measures of social factors can be used to predict hair steroid hormone levels as objective measures of the chronic stress perceived by conscripts during their basic military training.
本研究旨在分析内源性毛发类固醇激素作为个体压力水平的可靠生物指标与新兵基础军事训练期间经历的社会环境因素之间的关联。使用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测量了 185 名新兵的皮质醇、皮质酮、脱氢表雄酮（DHEA）和睾酮等毛发类固醇激素浓度。使用特定于军事的研究问卷评估了军事方面的六个主观社会环境因素：对军队和兵役的态度、适应军事环境、团队、任务和规范凝聚力以及群体中的心理（不）安全感。皮质醇与适应度（r = -0.176，<0.05）、态度（r = -0.147，<0.05）呈弱但显著负相关，而睾酮与任务凝聚力（r = -0.230，<0.01）呈负相关。此外，多元逐步回归分析突出表明，皮质酮的变化部分可以由任务凝聚力来解释；DHEA 由群体中的心理（不）安全感、对军队和兵役的态度以及规范凝聚力决定；而睾酮则由任务凝聚力和适应新的军事环境决定。本研究结果表明，社会因素的主观测量可以用于预测毛发类固醇激素水平，作为新兵在基础军事训练期间所经历的慢性压力的客观指标。
