Abstract Background Astronauts live and work in isolated, confined, extreme (ICE) environments that create both high stress and the need for high performance. The COVID-19 pandemic created ICE-like conditions across the globe by confining people to their homes under the ever-present threat of disease. Our goal is to understand the impact of prior experience in ICE on coping, using the pandemic as a pseudo space analog environment. Methods We administered a survey three times with 7 days between administrations. A total of 82 participants completed all three survey sessions, and these participants were divided into three groups for analysis. The first group is those with prior experience in an ICE environment (n = 17; 7F/10 M), the second is those aged 30–55 with a master's or doctoral degree and without prior experience (n = 22; 10F/12 M), and the third is the general population (n = 43; 27F/16 M). Linear mixed models were used for statistical analysis of the results, given the unequal sample sizes. Results The experienced group did not show healthier mental health scores than the astronaut-like group, but both groups displayed higher scores than the general population. However, work productivity scores for the experienced group were higher on average than the other two groups. Discussion Results suggest that prior experience in ICE may improve the capability to maintain productivity—corresponding to the idea of resilience. However, experience may not improve mental health maintenance, suggesting that other approaches are needed to prepare astronauts for the mental health stressors of long-duration exploration missions.
Highlights Individuals with prior experience in ICE environments may be better able to maintain productivity in future ICE environments. Prior experience in ICE does not appear to improve depression, anxiety, and stress scores. Mental health maintenance should remain a priority for future long-duration space exploration missions.
Isolation and confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons for human spaceflight
Acta Astronautica ; 196 ; 282-289
2022-04-21
8 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English