Search

The purpose of this study was to methodologically explore the links among social support, gender, age, prior experience, leader/follower status, and leadership effectiveness noted in previous accounts from Antarctic stations. Data for this study were collected from volunteers involved in Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions conducted from 1996 to 2001. Multilevel analysis revealed that most of the variance in perceptions of social support was at the individual level (71%). Perceptions of social support had less variance at the group level (29%) and little variance at the weekly level. At the group level, the explanatory variables we examined included leadership effectiveness, gender similarity, and age similarity. At the individual level, the explanatory variables we examined included age, gender, prior experience, and leader/follower status. An interaction between gender and leader/follower status contributed to a significant model of variation in perceptions of social support., (c2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Introduction: The popular assumption is that extreme environments induce a climate of hostility, incompatibility, and tension by intensifying differences and disagreements among team members. Team members' perceptions of team climate are likely to change over time in an extreme environment, and thus team climate should be considered as a dynamic outcome variable resulting from multiple factors. In order to explore team climate as a dynamic outcome, we explored whether variables at multiple levels of analysis contributed to team climate over time for teams living and working in Antarctica., Method: Data for this study were collected from volunteers involved in Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions conducted from 1996 to 2000. Multilevel analysis was used to partition and estimate the variance in team climate and to explore factors explaining variance at the group/team, individual, and weekly levels., Results: Most of the variance in perceptions of team climate was at the individual level (57%). Team climate had less variance at the group level (16%) and at the weekly level (26%). Results indicated that perceived leadership effectiveness was significantly related to team climate. Perceived leadership effectiveness accounted for an estimated 77% of the group level variance, which equated to 14% of the overall variance in team climate., Discussion: Our results suggest that exploring the characteristics and behaviors that constitute effective leadership would contribute to a more complete and useful picture of team climate, as well as guide selection research.

The mucosal immune status of Australian Antarctic personnel was monitored during six wintering expeditions at two Australian Antarctic Research Stations, Casey in 1992, 1993, 1994, and Mawson in 1992, 1995, 1996. Salivary immunoglobulin and albumin levels were examined for differences between stations and expeditions, and for monthly changes over the expedition year. Salivary IgA and IgM concentrations were on average higher for the 1993 Casey expeditioners, and all salivary protein levels were lower for 1996 Mawson expeditioners compared to levels of the other expeditions. The change in salivary IgA and IgM concentrations over the 1-year period revealed a consistent pattern between expeditions. Salivary IgA levels were lower in March, April and May compared to other months of the year (P = 0.0002). Salivary IgM levels were lowest in the first 4 months of the year, with peak levels in June and July (P < 0.0001). There were no changes in salivary IgG and albumin concentrations over the expedition year. Though the cause of the changes in salivary IgA and IgM levels over the year is unknown, the changes could reflect alterations in mucosal immunity in response to stressors associated with isolation.