Extreme Altitude Mountain Climbing Decreases Sensation Seeking Score and Increases the Anxiety Level

Background: The aim of the current paper was to compare the anxiety and sensation seeking levels of the mountaineers in the urban environment and at the extremely high altitude. Material and methods: A total of seven male mountaineers participated in the study voluntarily. The participants filled out the Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale-Form V (SSS-V, 1994) and Spielberger’s State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, 1983) for the first time in the urban conditions and for the second time in the last camp at 6400m of the two summits of 7105m and 7134m. The scores of four different sub-scales of the SSS-V, which are boredom susceptibility (BS), disinhibition (D), experience seeking (ES), and thrill and adventure seeking (TAS), were also evaluated. Results: Results showed a significant difference between trait and state anxiety scores (p= 0.004). Although there were 12.8% of change on general SSS, 22.61% on BS, 13.70% on ES, and 18.43% on TAS scores, these changes were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Extreme altitude climbing leads to an increase in the anxiety levels of the mountaineers. Furthermore, the SSS-V scores, except the D score, of the mountaineers decreased in the extreme altitudes, but these changes were not statistically significant