Abstract
Long-term stays in extreme environments, such as Polar Regions, may cause significant changes in the health and well-being of individuals. A systematic overview aimed to map studies about the psychological effects on Antarctic expeditioners. The reviewed data were categorized and divided into two thematic axes: Negative Effects, resulting from harmful psychophysiological variations caused by exposure to the polar stressors, which may present seasonal symptom patterns, altering cognitive performance, mood and interpersonal relationships; and Positive Effects, such as salutogenic results arising from successful adaption to environmental adversities. Due to the great deal of evidence, it is suggested that protection factors should be promoted through preventive approaches, such as psychological training and support in order to reduce symptoms and generate satisfactory adaptation to Antarctica.
Highlights
Long-term stays in extreme environments, such as Polar Regions, may cause significant changes in the health and well-being of individuals
The aim of this review was to examine the publications of the 2000s, related to different variables in Antarctic Environmental Psychology in order to map trends and obtain a more realistic overview of the general interest shown in this research approach
This is a relatively new and rather broad field of study and produces a large set of diffuse data related to the proportion of purely descriptive studies
Summary
Long-term stays in extreme environments, such as Polar Regions, may cause significant changes in the health and well-being of individuals. Psychosocial deprivation and the role of physical factors still represent significant challenges to human resilience The majority of these studies concentrate on the harmful and pathogenic effects resulting from behavioral and psychophysiological alterations arising from exposure to environmental stressors and long periods of isolation and confinement (Steel, 2005). Depressive symptomatology, sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment, irritability and interpersonal conflicts, social withdrawal, and fatigue have been frequently reported since the first studies were performed in Polar Regions (Mullin, 1960; Nelson, 1963; Palmai, 1963) These studies dealt with the identification of risk factors, such as personality traits and sociodemographic characteristics (Law, 1960). It is known that these symptoms only reach clinical intervention significance in a low percentage of cases (Palinkas, Cravalho & Browner, 1995)
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