Psychological adaptation processes (PAP) in extreme environments: Inter and intra-individual differences in PAP dynamics and optimism

Abstract

Psychological adaptation to isolated, confined and extreme (ICE) environments is a complex and multidimensional theoretical construct that requires an appropriate method to capture inter-individual and intra-individual differences dynamics across time. As such, we adopted a person-centred approach to address several objectives to identify: (a) winterers' profiles and trajectories of the four dimensions in adaptation (social, emotional, physical, and occupational), (b) temporal dynamics of these profiles, (c) consistency of these profiles over the wintering period, and (d) to examine whether adaptation profiles are associated with a theoretical covariate of interest (optimism). To address these objectives, 133 winterers from sub-Antarctic and Antarctic stations participated in this study. Latent class growth analysis and latent profile transition analysis highlighted distinct adaptation profiles and trajectories. Winterers’ from distinct adaptation trajectories reported significant different scores of dispositional optimism. These results bring elements of answers to better understand psychological adaptation to extreme environment.