The British Journal of Psychiatry 139: 38-42 (1981)
© 1981 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Identification of features associated with flying phobia in aircrew
RC Aitken, JA Lister and CJ Main
The psychological and physiological features of 20 aircrew consecutively
referred for treatment of anxiety symptoms when flying were compared with a
matched control group of uncomplaining aircrew. There were no significant
differences between the two groups on psychometric tests of personality,
though there were differences in skin conductance; the phobics had a higher
rate of spontaneous fluctuation, and habituated less to a repeated auditory
tone. More of the phobic group worried about their wives and acknowledged
childhood and other adulthood phobias; more had a family history of an
episode perhaps best described as flying trauma. Many were on an overseas
posting when symptoms presented. These few features could correctly
classify 85 per cent of the subjects into the phobic or control group. This
type of phobic aircrew index' now requires to be validated prospectively
for its predictive value.
