BACKGROUND: Physical fitness and physical conditioning have long been valued by the military for their roles in enhancing mission-specific performance and reducing risk of injury in the warfighter. It is not known whether physical fitness plays a causal role in attenuating acute military stress reactions or the evolution of post-traumatic stress disorder. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether physical fitness influences the impact of stressful events during military survival training in 31 men. METHODS: Participants self-reported their most recent Physical Readiness Test scores and completed a trait anxiety measure before survival training. Participants also completed the Impact of Events Scale (IES) 24 hours after training. RESULTS: Aerobic fitness was inversely associated with the total IES score (p < 0.01, adjusted R2 = 0.19). When adjusted for trait anxiety, this relationship was substantially attenuated and no longer significant (p = 0.11). Trait anxiety was inversely associated with aerobic fitness (p < 0.05) and positively related to IES (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Physical fitness may buffer stress symptoms secondary to extreme military stress and its effects may be mediated via fitness-related attenuations in trait anxiety.
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Taylor et al. (2008) studied this question.