Abstract. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of personality, temperament and stress coping factors in Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) in soldiers preparing for their first deployment to Afghanistan (ISAF).

Method. 120 soldiers were randomly selected from the contingent that consisted of 2000 soldiers and split into two groups of 60 people each - the experimental (E) and control (C) ones. Soldiers from the E group - split into subgroups of 15 - took part during the next 5 days in ten SIT sessions according to the methodology of the Virtual Reality Medical Center, San Diego (Training of Physiological Control Exposure to Virtual Stressor while Maintaining Physiological Control). Both groups filled in inventories such as: Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R), and The Formal Characteristics of Behaviour – Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI). Both before and after the training they filled in the STAI inventory. Having returned from the deployment the soldiers filled STAI once again as well as the PCL-M inventory.

Results. The statistical analysis results show: 1) Before SIT, in E group there was a negative correlation between X1 value in STAI and briskness, sensory threshold and endurance and positive correlation between X1 value in STAI and emotional reactivity; 2) After SIT In the E group there was a correlation between X1 value in STAI and emotional reactivity; 3) After deployment In the E group there was a correlation between X1 value and emotional reactivity as well as between X2 values and the emotions-based, avoidance style and conscientiousness.

Conclusions. Results could be taken into account when analyzing individual susceptibility to SIT.