Michel Nicolas

Reductions in circulating endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol levels in healthy human subjects exposed to chronic stressors.

Increasing evidence indicates that chronic stress, such as social isolation, plays an important role in the development of a variety of psychiatric and somatic disorders. Meanwhile, chronic stress imposed by prolonged isolation and confinement in the spacecraft is also one of the major concerns for the health of future interplanetary space travelers. Preclinical studies suggest that the peripheral endocannabinoid (eCB) system is involved in the regulation of the stress response and eCB signaling is implicated in the pathogenesis of stress-related diseases. However, there are only few human studies addressing this topic, of which most focusing on patients who have already developed a certain type of disorder. It remains unknown whether chronic stress may affect eCB signaling in healthy humans. A 520-d isolation and confinement study simulating a flight to Mars provided an extraordinary chance to study the effects of prolonged stress in healthy humans. During the study period, the participants lived in confinement and could not meet their families, friends, or strangers for more than 500 days. We examined the impact of chronic exposure to isolation and confinement through monitoring their psychological state, brain cortical activity, sympathetic adrenal-medullary system response and eCB signaling response. We observed reduced positive emotion ratings, decreased brain cortical activities and high levels of catecholamine release, indicating that prolonged exposure to isolation and confinement stressors may bring about changes both psychologically and physiologically. Importantly, for eCB signaling response, blood concentrations of eCB 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), but not anandamide (AEA), were significantly reduced (p<0.001), suggesting that dysregulation of 2-AG signaling might be specifically implicated in the response to chronic stressors.

Relationships between Coping Strategies and Defense Mechanisms in Sport Performance

In an exploratory study, the relationships between two major concepts in psychological adjustment, coping strategies, and defense mechanisms were investigated. Sport competition is an example of a real-world context in which peoples responses to stressful situations can be investigated. The extent to which participants reported different uses of coping strategies and defense mechanisms was assessed in terms of performance. 26 elite kayakers were classified into one of two groups, depending on the discrepancy between their standard performance and their performance in competition. Correlations were found among the coping strategies of seeking social support, positive reappraisal/planful problem solving, and mature defenses and between the coping strategy of distancing/avoidance and immature defenses. The results of multivariate and univariate analyses confirmed a significantly different use of coping strategies and defense mechanisms between the two performance groups. In light of these findings, certain recommendations in terms of methodology and application are warranted. Coping strategies and defense mechanisms should be studied to improve adjustment to sport performance.

Effects of personal goal management program on school and football self- determination motivation and satisfaction of newcomers within a football training centre.

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a personal goal-based intervention on school and football self-determination motivation and satisfaction of newcomers within football training centres. Twenty-three trainees were divided randomly into two groups, either a treatment group or a control group. The treatment proposed to the participants was the Personal Goal Management Program. Trainees’ school and football motivation and satisfaction were measured before, during and after the intervention. Results indicated a beneficial influence on football motivation and satisfaction, and overall trainee satisfaction. Methodological and applied suggestions are made to favour adjustment of newcomers within football training centre.

Affective, Social, and Cognitive Outcomes During a 1-Year Wintering in Concordia

This study investigated time patterns and the relationships between perceived stress, recovery, control, attention lapses, and defense mechanisms (DM) during a 12-month wintering in Concordia polar station with an international crew of 14 volunteers. This ICE (Isolated, Confined, Extreme) environment induced some stress, mainly in the social dimension and showed relationships (a) between DM and both stress and recovery and (b) between recovery and perceived control, highlighting the roles of DM and control in psychological adaptation. These results offer additional insights into the affective, social, and cognitive processes involved in adaptation. The findings suggest that preventive psychological countermeasures should be developed for crew members to counteract detrimental psychological outcomes and to improve adaptation to long-duration ICE situations such as planned human interplanetary space missions.

Social, Occupational, and Cultural Adaptation During a 12-Month Wintering in Antarctica.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS Life in isolated and confined environments (ICEs) is subject to important constraints which can generate psychosociologically impaired outcomes. This study investigated psychological, social, occupational, and cultural variables which are among the most important determinants in adaptation to a one-year wintering in Antarctica for 13 international subjects. RESULTS Our findings confirm and give further insight into the role of social (Cohesiveness, Social Support) and occupational (Implementation/Preparedness, Counterproductive Activity, Decision Latitude, and Psychological Job Demands) dimensions of adaptation to ICEs. Relationships between various social and occupational dimensions studies reflected detrimental effects ranging from decrements in cohesiveness (ICE 1, M = 4.44; ICE 7, M = 3.33), social support (ICE 2, M = 4.93; ICE 7, M = 4.28), and work performance (ICE 1, M = 4.33; ICE 6, M = 3.5), which differed across professional status and multicultural factors. DISCUSSION These psychosocial issues have important implications for pre-mission selection and training, monitoring and support of crews during the mission, and post-mission readaptation. Operational recommendations are suggested to improve adaptation, success, and well-being for long-duration ICE missions, e.g., to Mars and beyond. Nicolas M, Bishop SL, Weiss K, Gaudino M. Social, occupational, and cultural adaptation during a 12-month wintering in Antarctica. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):781-789.

A Reciprocal Effects Model of the Temporal Ordering of Coping and Defenses.

This study aimed to examine how coping and defenses are related over time, using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design. Coping and defenses were assessed before and after a sport competition in a sample of 296 competitive athletes. Partial least squares path modeling results showed that (a) pre-competitive mature defenses predicted increases in the use of task-oriented coping during competition; (b) pre-competitive immature defenses predicted an increase in the use of disengagement-oriented coping during competition; and (c) pre-competitive task-oriented coping predicted an increase in the use of immature defenses during competition. Overall, our findings suggest that defenses predict the use of coping and conversely, that coping predicts the use of defenses in psychological adjustment to stressful situations. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications. Copyright

Conscientiousness, self-determination, and satisfaction in soccer academies: a longitudinal perspective.

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate from a longitudinal perspective the relationships between conscientiousness, soccer and school self‐determination, and satisfaction in soccer academies. Newly recruited French soccer athletes responded to satisfaction and self‐determination measures three times, once every four months, and to conscientiousness measure in Time 2. Results showed that soccer self‐determination of trainees decreased and that its relationship with satisfaction was stronger over time. Moreover, results indicated that the relationship between trainee conscientiousness and satisfaction depends on the level of soccer self‐determination (S S‐D); when it was relatively high (in the middle of the year) the relationship was moderated by S S‐D and when it was weak (at the end of the year) the relation was mediated by S S‐D. Applied suggestions are made to develop means to maintain trainees’ feelings of autonomy toward soccer and school experience

Athletes’ affective profiles within competition situations: A two-wave study.

Previous studies exploring athletes’ affective experience within competition neglected the multivariate nature of the construct of affective states. The purposes of the current study were to: (a) identify affective profiles before and during competition; (b) examine if key theoretical covariates from a transactional perspective of affective states (i.e., perceived control and stress) predict membership of affective profiles; (c) explore the issue of consistency or change of affective profiles for the same individual over time (transition probabilities); and (d) examine whether precompetitive perceived control and stress impact transition probabilities. Two-hundred and 96 competitive athletes filled out self-report measures of perceived stress, perceived control, intensity and direction of positive affect (PA) and negative Affect (NA). Latent profile transition analysis revealed 5 affective profiles as a whole: low PA and NA debilitators (T1 only), high PA moderate NA facilitators, low PA high NA debilitators (T1 only), moderate PA and NA neutrals (T2 only), low PA moderate NA debilitators (T2 only). Athletes exhibited changes of affective profiles over time. High PA moderate NA facilitators reported the best psychological adjustment, as indicated by the effects of covariates (i.e., perceived control and stress) on affective profiles. Precompetitive perceived control and stress significantly predicted transition probabilities (i.e., athletes’ change of affective profiles from before to during competition). As a whole, an affective profile approach may prove useful in understanding affective states as a dynamic system and have implications for intervention.

Defense Profiles in Adaptation Process to Sport Competition and Their Relationships with Coping, Stress and Control

The purpose of this study was to identify the potentially distinct defense profiles of athletes in order to provide insight into the complex associations that can exist between defenses and other important variables tied to performance in sports (e.g., coping, perceived stress and control) and to further our understanding of the complexity of the adaptation process in sports. Two hundred and ninety-six (N = 296) athletes participated in a naturalistic study that involved a highly stressful situation: a sports competition. Participants were assessed before and after the competition. Hierarchical cluster analysis and a series of MANOVAs with post hoc comparisons indicated two stable defense profiles (high and low defense profiles) of athletes both before and during sport competition. These profiles differed with regards to coping, stress and control. Athletes with high defense profiles reported higher levels of coping strategies, perceived stress and control than athletes with low defense profiles. This study confirmed that defenses are involved in the psychological adaptation process and that research and intervention should not be based only on coping, but rather must include defense mechanisms in order to improve our understanding of psychological adaptation in competitive sports.

Stress and Recovery Responses during a 105-day Ground-based Space Simulation

The present study analysed the time course of the psychological process of stress and recovery in six healthy male volunteers during the Mars 105 experimentation, a 105-day ground-based space analogue. The multidimensional assessment of stress and recovery responses showed that stress levels decreased significantly throughout the 105-day isolated and confined extreme (ICE) experiment, especially on its social dimension. In line with previous studies, Fatigue showed a global and progressive reduction. The present results suggest that ICE exposure may not systematically induce stress overload and impaired psychological states. To optimize adaptation to ICE conditions, further improvements in positive psychological effects may be possible by improving the countermeasures, as well as the screening and selection of participants, in order to enhance coping capacities and to improve the balance of recovery-stress states.