Amadee-20-PSYCHSCALE
Details
| Acronym | PSYCHSCALE |
| Description | Utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to improve participants’ psychological flexibility, stress and well-being, performance and error measures |
| Principal Investigator (PI) | Tricia L. Larose E-mail: tricia.larose@ntnu.no |
| Organisation | Institute of Management Studies, Goldsmiths University of London |
| Ana Diaz-Artiles, | Ana Diaz-Artiles, Texas A&M University, Department of Aerospace Engineering E-mail: adartiles@tamu.edu Gabriel G. De la Torre, University of Cadiz, College of Education, Department of Psychology E-mail: gabriel.delatorre@uca.es |
Summary
Mars analog astronauts undergo a rigorous selection and training process to ensure crew
cohesion and mission success. However, even the healthiest, strongest individuals may face
psychological challenges due to various stressors in extreme or abnormal
environments. In our effort to further human space exploration in a safe and effective way,
we must thoroughly understand and protect the psychological well-being of the crew,
before, during, and after the analog mission.
The PsychScale experiment aims to study crew member anxiety and depression levels before,
during and after the mission in order to better understand psychological well-being in response
to known and unknown environmental stressors. It further aims to study the correlation between
crew anxiety and depression levels and the possibility of a “third quarter phenomena” (TQP)
whereby the first quarter of the mission may be characterized by crew excitement or anxiety, the
second quarter by boredom and depression, and the third quarter by increased emotional
outbursts.
This experiment uses the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) – an internationally
recognized, validated questionnaire on anxiety and depression. Additionally, two open-ended
qualitative questions that allow the participant to inform the scientific team of any issues related
to individual or crew mental health are included.