I__. - International Military Testing Association

SUBJECTIVE STATES QUESTIONNAIRE: PERCEIVED WELL-BEING
AND FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY
Banderet, L.E., O’Mara, M., Pimental’, N.A., Ri ley, SGT R.H.,
Dauphinee, SSG D.T., Witt, SSG C.E., Toyota, SGT R.M., U.S. Army
Research Institute of Environmental Medicine and ‘Navy Clothing
and Textile Research Facility, Natick. MA.
ABSTRACT
Self-rated measures of symptoms and moods are especially
Sensitive to stressors and often detect changes in well-being .
before more object i ve indices (Beck, 1979). We dev? I oped a
40-item Subjective States Questionnaire (SSQ) to exploit such
measurement properties in our research program for determining
the effects of extreme environments and evaluating treatment
strategies. The SSQ assesses a greater range of reactions than
most symptom or mood sea les and seeks est imates of a soldier ‘s
capac i ty to perform common soldier tasks and other fami I iar
activities or the effort required to complete them.
In a laboratory Study of heat stress, SSQ data were collected
during six, 135-minute test sessions. Nine soldiers gave
verbal ratings of “how they felt at that moment” during selected
exercise, rest, and recovery intervals. Many subjective states
appear sensitive to these manipulations. Ratings of most capabilities
return rapidly to normal after termination of exercise
and heat exposure.
INTRODUCTION
Self-rated measures of symptoms, moods, and behavioral capabilities
are often more sensitive than objective measures of psychological
phenomena (Beck, 1979). The sensitivity of self-rated
measures probably results because many phenomena can be assessed
with self-rated instruments, human subjects can recall and integrate
personal experiences over time, and sensory and perceptual
systems are most respons i ve to changes in stimulation or
activity.
To exploit the advantages of self-rated measures in our ongoing
research with soldiers exposed to environmental stressors,
we deve I oped The Subjective States Questionnaire (SSQ). This
questionnaire assesses perceived capability or the effort to
complete a task by having the mi I i tary subject relate such constructs
to common soldier tasks or other fami I iar activities.
This paper describes preliminary findings with the SSQ from an
experiment where military subjects were tested experimentally in
a hot physical environment whi le wearing various uniform ensembles.
METHOD
Subjects--- Nine physically fit males (average Statistics: age,
23 years; height, 69 in; weight, 165 lbs) volunteered for the
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