Military Psychology最新文献

United States Air Force remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) aircrew and support personnel perform critical missions in support of military operations around the world. The high value placed on the work of these individuals has resulted in increased workload and heightened risk of adverse psychological health outcomes. The impact of this can be detrimental to the health of the individual as well as the success of the RPA mission. To address these concerns, a combat-to-reconstitution policy was developed to provide additional downtime and recovery to RPA personnel, and recently piloted in some units within the RPA community. A total of 397 RPA personnel, of which 26% (n = 103) indicated their schedule was either internal or external reconstitution, completed an anonymous occupational health assessment sometime between November 2021 and July 2022. Responses included a mixture of both positive and negative experiences during the implementation of reconstitution, along with recommendations for improvements. Certain reconstitution-related sources of stress (e.g. work overload, lack of resources), were found to increase risk of burnout or psychological distress. Overall, this preliminary study provides a foundational landscape for the scientific and operational understanding of reconstitution as an operational intervention to improve recovery.

Close Quarters Battle (CQB) is an operational approach in confined spaces gaining increasing significance in urban combat missions. Due to its high psychophysiological demands, the CQB ability is an essential selection criterion for special forces. Until now, there has been no research on predictors of CQB capability. This study examined the influence of the Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, resilience, attentional ability, 2D:4D digit ratio, and mindfulness on the CQB performance. The German sample comprised a total of n = 45 individuals (n = 29police special forces; n = 16 unspecialized soldiers) who conducted psychometrics and a CQB test consisting of three scenarios. In these scenarios, two independent experts evaluated tactical behavior, weapon handling, gaze behavior, response time, and failures using a standardized behavioral observation instrument based on video recordings (external cameras and mobile eye-tracking). The results revealed that only extraversion predicted the CQB performance (β = -.40, p = .035). However, the mean 2D:4D ratio was strongly associated with gaze behavior (r = .45, p = .007), tactical behavior (r = .41, p = .019), and attentional ability (p = .57, p < .001). Surprisingly, the findings indicate that CQB, as a high-risk and analytical task, is better performed by introverted personnel.

As the Army continues to adapt to evolving mission demands and global threats, those who execute the mission - both soldiers and Department of the Army (DA) civilians - must also adapt to changing occupational demands and requirements. Occupational stress within the military community is a threat to health and wellbeing that impacts not only individual soldiers and civilian personnel, but also units, families, and the broader military community. Hardiness is an operational requirement for military success, spirituality might be a means to positively impact soldier and DA Civilian hardiness. This study sought to understand the relationship between spirituality and hardiness within the Army, which included data collected from U.S. Army soldiers (N = 313) and DA Civilians (N = 276). We hypothesized that increased individual spirituality have a direct relationship with the positive aspects of hardiness and an inverse relationship with the negative aspects of hardiness as defined by the dual process model of hardiness. Employing regression analysis, empirical support was found to support our hypotheses for relationships between spirituality and hardiness variables, with increased spirituality relating to increased positive hardiness and decreased negative hardiness traits. Military leaders can use that knowledge to develop and test targeted interventions that may help to increase positive hardiness and decrease negative hardiness in the Army. Further, Holistic Health and Fitness programming may benefit from improved psychological function by incorporating training that integrates hardiness and spirituality concepts.

Building on emerging literature, a new self-report inventory was developed to assess multiple psychological attributes relevant to adaptability in remote warriors. Literature search backed by surveys of military and psychological experts identified 32 attributes for self-report scale development. Items were sorted reliably into targeted dimensions (67.5% vs. 1.6% random) in support of content validity. Item analysis of responses from 255 U.S. Air Force remote operations Airmen (74.5% sensor operators) narrowed the set to 25 empirically distinct scales demonstrating overall strong internal consistency reliability (Mdn alpha = .83), unidimensionality per scale, convergent and discriminant validity in relations with the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (e.g. Stress Tolerance r = -.50 with NEO Neuroticism and r = .00 with NEO Openness), and criterion validity in relations with burnout (e.g., Coping Flexibility r = -.43 with Exhaustion) and psychological distress (e.g., Hardiness r = -.62). Results support the continued development of the measure for advancing understanding of the psychology of remote warfare and engagement in similarly demanding occupations.

Researchers have begun to explore factors that might promote better adjustment following exposure to traumatic events, including the extent to which individuals have a strong sense of meaning in their lives. Given that studies have shown the potential benefits of cultivating meaning in alleviating posttraumatic stress reactions, it is important to pinpoint specific aspects of meaning that may better inform individualized trauma-focused treatments. One aspect of meaning that may be particularly relevant to trauma survivors is reflected in perceptions of purpose in life. The current study explored concurrent associations among elements of purpose and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in a sample of 423 combat-deployed veterans through the lens of network analysis. We investigated the network structure of purpose and PTSS, as well as which aspects of purpose were negatively associated with PTSS, to identify their connections with resilience and recovery. Most notably, results revealed that having multiple reasons for living and a sense of importance and connection related to everyday pursuits were most strongly linked to lower PTSS. Specific aspects of purpose related to satisfaction and fulfillment were also linked to lower PTSS, though more modestly. Although these findings will need to be confirmed in longitudinal research, they suggest that attending to sense of purpose in veterans and other high-risk populations may facilitate treatment planning in service of fostering greater resiliency to the effects of trauma exposure.

Among military service members, the experience of never-deploying can create a negative affective state (i.e., "non-deployment emotions"; (NDE)) that increases stress and may contribute to higher rates of substance use among Reserve and National Guard soldiers. Little is known about how soldiers' negative NDE and substance use may affect the marital relationship of military couples. We examined the cross-spouse effects of male soldiers' negative NDE and alcohol and illicit drug use on female spouses' marital satisfaction, using cross-sectional data from never-deployed male soldiers and their female spouses (n = 94 couples; 188 participants). Negative binomial regression models tested the main effects of soldiers' negative NDE, alcohol use, and illicit drug use, separately, on their spouses' marital satisfaction, controlling for soldiers' depression, years of military service, and prior active-duty status, and spouses' depression and substance use. Interaction terms between NDE and alcohol use and illicit drug use were then added. In adjusted main effects models, only husbands' current illicit drug use was associated with wives' decreased marital satisfaction (RR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.96; p < .05). However, significant interaction models indicated that wives had lower marital satisfaction when their husbands had high levels of negative NDE and used alcohol or drugs. This suggests a synergistic effect; negative non-deployment emotions combined with higher substance use among soldiers may contribute to lower marital satisfaction among wives. Military organizations should consider ways to better support never-deployed soldiers, develop approaches to help mitigate feelings of reduced camaraderie or belonging, and explore ways to better support military couples.

Previously deployed mothers report higher levels of posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms than non-deployed mothers. However, the specific stressors encountered during deployment that account for elevated clinical symptoms are not well understood including the impact of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) in the context of other deployment-related stressors. This study examined whether MST during deployment, degree of combat exposure, and length of deployment will each be associated with posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms among previously deployed mothers. Participants included 113 mothers (86.6% White) who had previously been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan during the post 9/11 conflicts. Logistic regressions revealed that mothers who experienced MST during deployment were five times more likely to report clinically significant posttraumatic stress symptoms and two times more likely to report clinically significant depression symptoms. When controlling for MST, degree of combat exposure and length of deployment were not significantly associated with posttraumatic stress or depression symptoms. The present study fills an important gap in the literature and implicates MST as an important correlate of post-deployment functioning for military mothers. Findings from this study can be used to inform both prevention and intervention efforts.

Military veterans who became disabled due to conflict-related trauma face various challenges in finding and maintaining employment in civilian life. This study aims to understand the transition processes of disabled veterans in Turkey into civilian employment, as well as their experiences in maintaining and sustaining employment during this process. A qualitative research design was used in the study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 24 amputee veterans. The most commonly reported issues were placement in unsuitable jobs, lack of civilian work experience, differences between military and civilian cultures, and biases. Many veterans struggle to integrate into civilian work life.

The United States Military Academy's mission is to develop leaders of character. Such leaders are characterized by having high levels of moral character traits such as empathy and by having high levels of academic/military training performance. For this reason, factors that facilitate these outcomes are of high interest. One such factor may be emotional integration-the extent to which one has a differentiated awareness of one's emotions while having an accepting and interested stance toward them. Here, across two studies, we examined whether emotional integration predicted empathy and markers of performance among West Point cadets, and the extent to which experiences with parents might underpin the development of emotional integration skills. Participants in Study 1 were 170 cadets and in Study 2 were 192 cadets who completed psychometric measures of relevant variables. Results in Study 1 showed father warmth to be a particularly strong correlate of emotional integration, which in turn was correlated with empathy. Study 2 replicated these findings and showed emotional integration also to be predictive of markers of academic and military training performance. These findings highlight the potential value of developing emotional integration abilities and a key factor that might underpin these abilities. Implications for leader development programs are shared along with recommendations for future research.

Organizational socialization entails adopting appraisal strategies and adjustment mechanisms that support employees' integration into new workplaces. This study focused on adapting and validating the Military Organizational Socialization Inventory (MOSI), a tool that measures perceived socialization levels among military personnel. The research included 563 cadets from the Italian Army Non-Commissioned Officers School, who completed the MOSI along with other measures, such as the Content Areas of Socialization Scale (CAS), Organizational Socialization Inventory (OSI), and the Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment Scales. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the theoretical three-factor structure. Then, a second-order factor model showed a good fit, further emphasizing the multidimensional nature of organizational socialization in military contexts. The MOSI demonstrated convergent validity through significant correlations with the CAS and OSI, and predictive validity through meaningful relationships, primarily with the affective commitment dimension of the Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment Scales. However, limitations include the cross-sectional design and the focus on a single military institution, which may restrict generalizability. Future research should employ longitudinal designs, assess different military branches, and consider cultural influences to further validate the MOSI. Examining variations in roles and deployments could also reveal factors affecting socialization levels. Overall, the MOSI is a reliable and valid tool for assessing organizational socialization in military settings, with significant implications for improving integration processes and organizational effectiveness.