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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Organizational Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1350630
This article is part of the Research Topic Optimizing Psychosocial Work Environments and Experiences for People Working in Isolated, Confined, and/or Extreme Conditions View all 7 articles

Social Support From Different Sources and Its Relationship with Stress in Spaceflight Analog Environments

Provisionally accepted
Suzanne Bell Suzanne Bell 1*Steven R. Anderson Steven R. Anderson 2Pete Roma Pete Roma 2,3Lauren Blackwell Landon Lauren Blackwell Landon 2Sheena Dev Sheena Dev 2
  • 1 Johnson Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, Texas, United States
  • 2 KBRwyle, Houston, Texas, United States
  • 3 Leidos (United States), Reston, Virginia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    While there is a large body of research on social support in traditional work settings, less is known about how the unique context of long-term isolation and confinement affects perceived social support. The purpose of our research was to examine how perceptions of social support change over time, how they differ by source (i.e., public, organization, family/friends/colleagues, and other crewmembers), and the relationship between social support and stress. We collected data from 64 crewmembers in five spaceflight analog campaigns with restricted communication with outside sources. Results suggested that perceived social support declined over time for all sources, with declines more pronounced for external sources (public, organization, family/friends/colleagues) than for perceived support from other crewmembers. While perceived overall social support was unrelated to stress over time, social support from crewmembers was related to the stress levels reported by crewmembers in the evening. Our results are important as they: (a) empirically document the decline in perceived social support over time in extended isolation; (b) provide evidence for the critical importance of the role of fellow crewmembers in being able to provide social support in conditions of extended isolation and communication delay; and (c) underscore the need to more fully understand the dynamics between the crew and external sources of social support (public, organization, family/friends/colleagues) as well as how those relationships may be best supported for individuals who live and work in long-term isolation and confinement.

    Keywords: social support, Astronaut, stress, Marriage and family, team dynamics Conceptualizing, Data curation, Funding acquisition, investigation

    Received: 05 Dec 2023; Accepted: 19 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bell, Anderson, Roma, Landon and Dev. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Suzanne Bell, Johnson Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, 77058, Texas, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.