Military Psychology最新文献

This study describes the wartime experiences of foreign volunteers-Jewish foreign nationals who volunteered for the Israeli military - during the Swords of Iron War. Interviews with 20 participants revealed three themes. 1) Between Two Worlds: Foreign Volunteers' Relationships with Family Members Back Home During Wartime highlights the emotional strain, communication challenges, and selective disclosure involved in maintaining transnational family ties. 2) From Strangers to Brothers in Arms: The Social Integration Journey of Non-Israeli Soldiers in Israeli Military Units explores their transition from cultural outsiders to integral members of their units, forming a bicultural military identity. 3) Beyond Combat: Personal and Psychological Journeys of Foreign Volunteers Serving Far from Support Systems addresses the emotional challenges of grief, instability, and loss, alongside personal growth and resilience. The findings emphasize the importance of institutional support, social networks, and cultural adaptation, recommending improved family connection tools, enhanced integration programs, and tailored support initiatives for foreign volunteers.

The unique demands of military life can adversely impact romantic relationships; however, research has mainly focused on these adverse outcomes at one-time point, overlooking changes over time or potential positive outcomes. Using a subsample of 3,845 male and female military personnel and veterans from a large UK dataset, this study examined positive and negative changes in relationship satisfaction between two-time points (2007-2009; 2014-2016). Most participants reported no change in their relationship satisfaction, suggesting stability - 8% reported a positive change and 10% a negative change. Positive change was associated with being in a long-term relationship, alcohol misuse remission, and persistent alcohol misuse. Negative change was associated with the onset of mental health problems (probable PTSD, CMD, or alcohol misuse) and having children under 18. Some factors, like increasing age, childhood family relationship adversity, and mental health problems, were associated with both positive and negative changes in relationship satisfaction. This study highlights the complexity of factors associated with relationship satisfaction among military personnel and veterans, with some experiencing positive changes, as well as negative changes over time.

Moral injury entails functionally impairing moral emotions, beliefs, and behaviors resulting from enacting, experiencing, or witnessing events that transgress deeply held moral beliefs. Moral injury is associated with concerns about disclosure regarding military experiences, such as feeling judged. Yet, little research has documented the extent to which intimate partners know about service members' exposure to potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs) and their reactions to this knowledge. The current study is a secondary analysis of data from a sample of 579 couples (1,158 individuals) that included male service members' reports of experiencing specific events during deployment (i.e., PMIEs by self, PMIEs by others, loss, or life threat) and their female civilian partners' reports of the service member telling them about such events. Results suggest that partners are significantly less likely to report being told about service members' exposure to PMIEs compared to exposure to experiences of threat and loss. In general, service members' reports of the seriousness of deployment experiences and their distress regarding these experiences were associated with a greater likelihood of partners' reports of being told about such experiences. In the current sample, partners had low ratings of negative changes in opinions of the service member after learning of their exposure to PMIEs by self or by others. Although preliminary, findings may inform understanding of the conditions under which disclosure of military experiences to intimate partners is more or less likely and the type of partner reactions that might be observed among military couples in intact relationships.

This study examined the effects of the Thank You-Sorry-Love (TSL) program on depression, anger, marital satisfaction, and cortisol levels among military spouses. A total of 18 military spouses were matched and randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 9), which participated in the TSL program, or a control group (n = 9), which did not receive the intervention. Depression, anger, marital satisfaction, and cortisol levels (an oxidative stress biomarker) were measured at two time points: pretest and posttest. The results demonstrated significant reductions in depression and anger, as well as improved marital satisfaction in the experimental group compared to the control group. Additionally, the program was effective in reducing cortisol levels, further supporting its utility as a stress-reduction intervention. These findings highlight the potential of the TSL program as an effective strategy for enhancing psychological and physiological well-being among military spouses.

Resilience is a vital psychological resource for military police personnel, who routinely operate in high-stress, high-risk environments that demand rapid decision-making, emotional regulation, and sustained mental stamina. While resilience training is increasingly integrated into military structures to foster adaptive coping and psychological endurance, the role of the psychological phenomenon avoidance - a commonly used but often maladaptive coping strategy - remains insufficiently examined in this context. This qualitative study explores how avoidance is experienced and managed among German military police personnel and how it may impede the development of resilience. Guided by two central research questions-(1) How does avoidance manifest itself? and (2) How do military police personnel deal with avoidance? - nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with active-duty military police members. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings reveal that avoidance is commonly perceived as the evasion of distressing experiences and is employed across a range of scenarios, both in routine duties and high-pressure situations. Avoidance emerges on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral levels, indicating a complex, multi-dimensional pattern. While some interviewees displayed growing awareness of their avoidance tendencies and a willingness to confront them, others remained ambivalent or unaware of their impact. Importantly, participants voiced a clear need for structured support, specifically through resilience-building training tailored to address and reduce avoidance behaviors. These findings suggest that the inclusion of targeted strategies for recognizing and mitigating avoidance should be a priority in future resilience training programs. The study offers implications for designing psychological support within military contexts and highlights key areas for further research.

Burnout, characterized by Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Reduced Personal Accomplishment (PA), is a significant occupational hazard. Although extensively studied in other contexts, its prevalence and predictors among Portuguese military personnel have not been explored. This study investigates burnout prevalence and its sociodemographic and organizational predictors within the Portuguese Army. A total of 437 active-duty personnel completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) alongside sociodemographic and organizational questionnaires. Results revealed that 2.3% of participants exhibited burnout across all dimensions, while 25.2% demonstrated engagement (low scores in all dimensions). High EE, DP, and PA were reported by 35.7%, 13.7%, and 45.5% of respondents, respectively. Logistic regression identified key burnout predictors: feeling undervalued by superiors, being enlisted, and being single significantly increased burnout risk. These findings align with the Job Demands-Resources model, highlighting how low support, high workload, and job insecurity exacerbate burnout, while marital support and stability mitigate it. Despite relatively low burnout prevalence, the study emphasizes the need for targeted interventions. Promoting supportive leadership, recognition, and preventive strategies is essential to improve well-being and operational performance in the military.

To date, few studies have evaluated treatment outcomes for military service members who complete massed treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, no studies have directly compared treatment outcomes between service members and veterans in a massed treatment setting. In the present study, we evaluated treatment outcomes for military service members who completed an intensive treatment program (ITP) for PTSD and compared their outcomes to military veterans who completed the same program. Data were collected from 558 participants who identified as U. S. military service members (n = 68) or veterans (n = 490) during a two-week, cognitive processing therapy-based ITP. Results showed that service members and veterans experienced large reductions in PTSD (d = 1.26 & d = 1.35, respectively) and depression (d = .82 & d = 1.01, respectively) severity after treatment. In addition, the reductions in PTSD and depression severity for service members were equivalent to those of veterans using a Bayes factor equivalence approach. This study contributes to the limited literature on treatment outcomes for service members who complete massed treatments for PTSD. This research is particularly important as lawmakers and military leaders continue to remove barriers to treatment for service members suffering with PTSD.

Women Veterans (WVs) face unique challenges reintegrating into civilian life after military service. Yet, there is a current dearth of information on treatment outcomes and feasability among WVs, particularly regarding interventions that target reintegration focused content and outcomes. The present study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial that integrates quantitative and qualitative measures to assess WVs' outcomes and experiences with the STEP-Home (SH) transdiagnostic reintegration workshop. A total of 57 Veterans ages 24-65 years (n = 37 men; n = 20 women) completed SH and provided qualitative feedback post-intervention. Sex-stratified outcomes indicated that both men and women improved in reintegration (ps < 0.01), though the effect was smaller among WVs (ds = 0.42 vs 0.67). Women and men also experienced moderate improvements in neurobehavioral symptoms and frontal system functioning (ps < 0.001; ds = 0.48-1.00). WVs showed unique improvements in communication (p = .007, d = 0.50), and personal control (p = .016, d = 0.58). Men showed unique improvements in anger expression (p < .001, d = 0.52) and impulse control (p = .002, d = 0.57). Women represented 35% of Veterans who completed STEP-Home at follow up, a notable overrepresentation of women when compared to their prevalence in the US military. Dropout rates among WVs were similar to men (p > .05). Qualitative feedback indicated that some WVs (n = 5) preferred women only groups. WVs reported high satisfaction with SH, although women did indicate that women only groups may appeal to some WVs. Findings support the benefits of and satisfaction with virtual reintegration programs among WVs. They also emphasize the opportunity for future research focused on the implementation of virtual reintegration programs tailored to the growing population of WVs.Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: D2907-R.

Drug and alcohol misuse, sexual misconduct, and suicidal behaviors can negatively affect the well-being of personnel in high-risk occupations and compromise organizational effectiveness. While the U.S. Army has established policies, programs, and a professional prevention workforce to reduce the occurrence of these behaviors, soldiers who are in the presence of their at-risk peers are best positioned to intervene. Thus, to leverage the impact of peer-based bystander intervention, the Army developed a two-hour training entitled "Engage." Engage provides soldiers with instruction on fostering awareness of risky behaviors, taking responsibility in situations where such behaviors may occur, and having a plan of action for intervening on behalf of those at risk. A longitudinal quasi-randomized evaluation of Engage was conducted with active-duty soldiers over a nine-month period. Eight companies were assigned to receive Engage, and eight companies were assigned to a control condition. Surveys assessed training acceptability, knowledge related to bystander behaviors, confidence in intervening, and perceptions of unit engagement. Soldiers found the training to be acceptable, evidenced improved knowledge of bystander intervention concepts following training, and perceived their units to be more engaged in bystander practices over time. Longitudinal assessment of soldiers' confidence in intervening was moderate to high at baseline; while confidence remained stable over multiple follow-up assessments, no significant changes were observed due to training. These findings highlight the potential value of tailoring bystander intervention training for service members. Results also provide direction for improving such training for the military and other high-risk occupations.

This study examined psychological adaptation among 161 Israeli reserve soldiers who served as body handlers following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack. The study assessed posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS), posttraumatic growth (PTG), well-being (WB), resilience, belief in a just world (BJW), and coping strategies. Regression analyses revealed that resilience and BJW were positively associated with WB, while PTS negatively predicted it. PTG was predicted by younger age, higher PTS, resilience, and emotion-focused acceptance coping, whereas emotion-focused distancing coping was a negative predictor. Significant interactions were found: BJW was positively associated with PTG among older participants and those with high PTS; emotional acceptance was linked to WB among younger participants; and resilience was positively related to WB among those experiencing high PTS. The results highlight that PTG and WB are distinct yet coexisting indicators of adaptation. While WB was linked to resilience and cognitive frameworks such as BJW, PTG appeared to emerge from distress combined with reflective and meaning-making processes. These findings underscore the psychological complexity of post-trauma responses in extreme conditions and point to the importance of fostering both resilience and adaptive cognitive coping in trauma-exposed populations.