The Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) for assessing stress of seafarers on board merchant ships

Background: In their working activity, seafarers are exposed to high levels of stress that should be accurately investigated, measured, followed up and, if possible, countered. This is also required by regulations recently entered into force such as the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, recommending to consider special physiological or psychological problems created by the shipboard environment. The choice of the tools for this evaluation is challenging, and a common basic standard usable in a large scale should be identified. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate: 1) the suitability of the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) questionnaire conducted on board for assessing stress in the sailing seafarers, 2) The presence of stress in seafarers of different categories (deck officers, engine officers, deck crew, engine crew, chief stewards/catering staff) monitored by the PGWBI. Materials and methods: 162 male seafarers on board of 7 tankers belonging to the same shipping company were evaluated through the PGWB questionnaire. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyse the differences in the scores of the questionnaire. Results: Engine officers exhibited significantly higher anxiety levels than the deck or engine crew, and showed lower satisfaction than the deck crew. Deck and engine officers revealed higher self-control levels than the engine crew. Chief stewards/catering staff showed lower vitality levels than the deck crew. Conclusions: Deck or engine officers should achieve a greater self-control than the crew and this is documented by the present study. Our findings support the view that management responsibility is more often associated with higher levels of stress. In our opinion, the PGWB questionnaire is a reasonable compromise for obtaining a global evaluation of psychological conditions, including stress of seafarers. It should be therefore considered as a large scale tool for assessing the well-being and eventual stress levels of sailing seafarers.