M Trousselard, D Claverie, L Deleplanque, E Taurin, N Bassan, E De Parseval, M Romand Monnier, C Clot, G De Boisboissel, S Henry, A Vergnes, Y Sevenou, M Delibes, Y Daniel, L Giaume
{"title":"The Effects of Commando Training on Stress, Cognitive Performance, and Group Behavior in Military Personnel: An Exploratory Study.","authors":"M Trousselard, D Claverie, L Deleplanque, E Taurin, N Bassan, E De Parseval, M Romand Monnier, C Clot, G De Boisboissel, S Henry, A Vergnes, Y Sevenou, M Delibes, Y Daniel, L Giaume","doi":"10.1093/milmed/usaf075","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Military personnel are exposed to a high level of operational stress that degrades their psychophysiological and cognitive performance and could impact the mission. Commando training is a unique opportunity to assess psychological, physiological, and cognitive performance in an ecological setting.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Psychological, physiological, and cognitive performance were evaluated at baseline, and before and after a 1-week commando training course consisting of exercises and night walks. Psychological factors (anxiety, subjective stress), physiological measures (heart rate variability, electrodermal conductance), cognitive behavior (cognitive bias, risk-taking, decision-making), and cognitive performance (the MindPulse neurophysiological test) were assessed. Volunteers were 39 young (mean age 21.6 years) French army officers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Blind spot bias was found in all participants before training, except for the action-inaction bias. We observed a deterioration in parasympathetic functioning (Root Mean Square of Successive Differences, P = .05), an increase in subjective fatigue (P < .001), and impaired cognitive performance: reaction time (P = .02, F = 5.77), errors (P = .03, F = 4.97). Post-training, we observed an emerging group dynamic, notably an increase in avoidance (buck-passing) (P = .002, F = 10,43), a reduction of the action-inaction bias (P = .009, F = 7.59), ostrich effect (P = .008, F = 7.83) and stereotyping bias (P = .03, F = 5.11).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Commando training increases stress and impacts the cognitive performance of military personnel. Pre-deployment preparation could consider the need for physiological recovery, and the impact of deployment on cognitive performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":18638,"journal":{"name":"Military Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Military Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usaf075","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Military personnel are exposed to a high level of operational stress that degrades their psychophysiological and cognitive performance and could impact the mission. Commando training is a unique opportunity to assess psychological, physiological, and cognitive performance in an ecological setting.
Methods: Psychological, physiological, and cognitive performance were evaluated at baseline, and before and after a 1-week commando training course consisting of exercises and night walks. Psychological factors (anxiety, subjective stress), physiological measures (heart rate variability, electrodermal conductance), cognitive behavior (cognitive bias, risk-taking, decision-making), and cognitive performance (the MindPulse neurophysiological test) were assessed. Volunteers were 39 young (mean age 21.6 years) French army officers.
Results: Blind spot bias was found in all participants before training, except for the action-inaction bias. We observed a deterioration in parasympathetic functioning (Root Mean Square of Successive Differences, P = .05), an increase in subjective fatigue (P < .001), and impaired cognitive performance: reaction time (P = .02, F = 5.77), errors (P = .03, F = 4.97). Post-training, we observed an emerging group dynamic, notably an increase in avoidance (buck-passing) (P = .002, F = 10,43), a reduction of the action-inaction bias (P = .009, F = 7.59), ostrich effect (P = .008, F = 7.83) and stereotyping bias (P = .03, F = 5.11).
Conclusion: Commando training increases stress and impacts the cognitive performance of military personnel. Pre-deployment preparation could consider the need for physiological recovery, and the impact of deployment on cognitive performance.
期刊介绍:
Military Medicine is the official international journal of AMSUS. Articles published in the journal are peer-reviewed scientific papers, case reports, and editorials. The journal also publishes letters to the editor.
The objective of the journal is to promote awareness of federal medicine by providing a forum for responsible discussion of common ideas and problems relevant to federal healthcare. Its mission is: To increase healthcare education by providing scientific and other information to its readers; to facilitate communication; and to offer a prestige publication for members’ writings.