Personal resources of professional longevity of representatives of special risk professions of different age groups

Context and relevance. The development of pension reforms has impacted professions characterized by high stress levels, such as military and law enforcement, often leading to extended service periods. As active professional longevity increases, it becomes essential to explore factors that influence health preservation across different age groups. Objective. To investigate the influence of personal resources on the biological aging index among individuals in stressful professions of the realistic type. Hypothesis. Active engagement in personal resources (e.g., hobbies and interests) exerts varying effects on biological age across different age groups. Optimizing resource utilization may reduce the biological aging index. Methods and materials. The study included 1330 participants aged 23–70 years, comprising 432 individuals from stressful professions (M = 3,3, SD = 9,33; 28% women). The biological aging index was assessed using P.V. Voitenko’s method, while personal resources were evaluated via an author-developed questionnaire. Data analysis involved ANOVA, neural network modeling, and Student’s t-test. Results. Engagement in active hobbies can either mitigate or accelerate biological aging—serving as resources or additional stressors. The beneficial impact of active personal resources was most pronounced at retirement age; among mature professionals, the effect was negligible, and among young professionals, results were contradictory. For men, participation in sports emerged as a universal positive resource across all ages; women did not exhibit this pattern. Hobbies related to professional activities tended to act as stressors. Additionally, hobbies involving risk had a negative impact on stress levels in high-stress professions. Neural network modeling demonstrated that resource optimization could significantly decrease the biological aging index—particularly in young professionals (p < 0,01) and retirees (p < 0,01) among men. Conclusions. Selection of personal resources for professionals should consider gender, age, and profession type. Future research should explore passive hobbies, stress-inducing activities with hormetic effects, and potential delayed benefits of certain resources.