Military Psychology最新文献

Successful teamwork is essential to ensure critical care air transport (CCAT) patients receive effective care. Despite the importance of team performance, current training methods rely on subjective performance assessments and do not evaluate performance at the team level. Researchers have developed the Team Dynamics Measurement System (TDMS) to provide real-time, objective measures of team coordination to assist trainers in providing CCAT aircrew with feedback to improve performance. The first iteration of TDMS relied exclusively on communication flow patterns (i.e., who was speaking and when) to identify instances of various communication types such as closed loop communication (CLC). The research presented in this paper significantly advances the TDMS project by incorporating natural language processing (NLP) to identify CLC. The addition of NLP to the existing TDMS resulted in greater accuracy and fewer false alarms in identifying instances of CLC compared to the previous flow-based implementation. We discuss ways in which these improvements will facilitate instructor feedback and support further refinement of the TDMS.

The U.S. Army has a vested interest in retaining the skilled personnel necessary to achieve its mission and strategic goals. A wealth of research has investigated the retention process and what influences service member decisions to stay in the military. While families are an important influence on soldier retention decisions, research on the mechanism by which this happens is lacking. This report explores the relationship between spouse attitudes and perceptions, resource use, and soldier retention almost two years later, using a proposed theoretical model. Our results generally support our model, with the important change that resource use and unmet needs and stress were not directly associated with specific attitudes toward staying in the military as we had expected. Instead, the association was accounted for by relationship with general attitudes toward the military. Spouses whose needs were unmet after seeking help from available resources experienced greater stress, and spouse unmet needs and reports of greater stress were associated with worse general attitudes toward the military; worse general attitudes toward the military were associated with less inclination to stay a military family; which in turn predicted soldier turnover almost two years later. As the research in this report shows, providing benefits to military spouses is also associated with a tangible and important outcome for the military: improved service member retention.

The current study leveraged data from a representative sample of U.S. women veterans to investigate factors that differentiate women veterans who report lifetime suicidal ideation (SI), suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt(s) (SI/SA), and no SI/SA. We examined sociodemographic, military, and other mental and medical health characteristics as potential risk indicators differentiating women veterans with only SI, SI/SA, and no SI/SA. We used multinomial logistic regression analyses and post-hoc relative important analyses to determine the relative contribution of significant variables. Relative to women veterans with SI only, those with SI/SA reported more adverse childhood experiences, and were more likely to screen positive for alcohol and substance use disorders. Relative to women veterans with no SI/SA, those with SI only had greater cumulative trauma burden, and were more likely to screen positive for major depressive disorder and disability in activities of daily living (ADLs) and/or instrumental ADLs. The present study's determination of indicators that differentiate suicide risk groups of women veterans underscores the value of a nuanced approach to operationalizing suicide-related outcomes. The results may serve as a foundation for additional research and support targeted prevention and intervention efforts.

Military personnel are repeatedly exposed to multiple stressors, and are sometimes characterized by high levels of anger. Evidence suggests that this anger can become dysfunctional, and impact the health status of populations chronically exposed to stress. In particular, rumination (understood as perseverative thoughts about a past event), provides a theoretical framework for investigating how anger may impact stress regulation abilities in military personnel declared fit for deployment. This exploratory study aimed therefore to examine the impact of the anger profile on psychological suffering in terms of burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with the reactivity of the autonomic nervous system, measured as cardiac variability. One hundred and seventeen French soldiers were tested before deployment to Operation BARKHANE. Anger rumination, burnout, and PTSD symptoms were assessed using questionnaires, and cardiac variability was measured as the questionnaires were completed. The results revealed two profiles related to anger trait and anger rumination. Burnout and PTSD scores were higher among military personnel with high levels of anger trait and rumination, and this group also had lower parasympathetic activity and flexibility after completing the questionnaires. These results suggest that there may be a link between an angry profile and psychological suffering, notably burnout and PTSD. Rumination could be involved in this link, as it is associated with poor adaptation to stress in a military context. Prospective researches including post-deployment will establish whether this ruminative response can account for the relationship between problematic anger, stress regulatory capacities and psychological health in military populations.

The gathering of information through the use of interrogation techniques in the context of human intelligence (HUMINT) has a long and elusive history within applied settings of law enforcement and the military and civilian intelligence/counterterrorism community. However, psychological research has yet to catch up to systematically address pressing matters regarding the validity and effectiveness of common interrogation methods and a conceptual framework for relevant psychological factors. A promising, comprehensive contribution is the Taxonomy of Interrogation Methods (ToIM), which aims to integrate multiple approaches within the field of interrogation. In this paper, we utilized the ToIM model as a foundation for a meta-analytic review on the validity and effectiveness of interrogation techniques. We systematically integrated the existing evidence from 60 studies in order to determine which techniques from six domains of the ToIM produce valuable information. The results indicate that Rapport and Relationship Building, Presentation of Evidence and Cognitive Facilitation (an additional domain beyond the ToIM) are valid approaches to optimize both the amount of information gathered as well as its accuracy. The evidence is insufficient to conclude the effectiveness of techniques from the other four domains. Overall, the results are in line with the general notion in the field that a positive relationship with a suspect/source is the key to gather valuable information.

Mission readiness is critical to the operational success of the United States (US) military and includes having a healthy and fit fighting force. Service members and their dependents have access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services with no out-of-pocket costs. Despite this access, negative outcomes such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy persist. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with service members and stakeholders (e.g. medical providers). Interviews explored the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and institutional factors that inform sexual norms, behaviors, and healthcare experiences in the US military. Interview transcripts were coded manually; data were summarized for themes related to unique aspects of military culture and healthcare affecting sexual and reproductive health. Twenty-five (25) service members and 15 stakeholders completed interviews. Four themes emerged: 1) despite free access, both general and military-specific barriers to sexual and reproductive healthcare persist; 2) general and military-specific cultural norms apply to sexual behavior and care seeking; 3) sexual and reproductive health-related norms can be perceived as confusing and contradictory within the military; and 4) resources addressing sexual assault are ubiquitous in military settings, but resources addressing prevention of STIs and unintended pregnancy are limited. Both general and military-specific norms, behavior, and healthcare experiences need to be considered in clinical care, public health campaigns, and other efforts to promote sexual and reproductive health in military settings.

Transformational leadership is embedded in the value system of the Canadian military ethos. Research suggests that transformational leadership can be viewed as a form of empowering leadership facilitating empowered psychological states among their followers, which in turn, enhances their performance, wellbeing, and engagement. The current study examined the associations between transformational leadership and Canadian Armed Forces members' psychological distress, morale, and pre-deployment readiness and the mediating role of psychological empowerment in these relationships. A path analysis model of the data collected through a pre-deployment survey completed by Canadian Armed Force (CAF) members (N = 2,391) revealed that transformational leadership was associated with lower psychological distress and greater morale and these relationships were partly explained by increased feelings of empowerment, namely higher levels of autonomy, competence, and meaning. Furthermore, transformational leadership was also associated with higher perceptions of pre-deployment readiness, and this was partly explained by increased feelings of meaning and competence. The results of this research suggest that transformational leadership is an effective strategy to bolster psychological resources and readiness in the CAF.

Stress is an inherent biological response to various stressors, which, when experienced chronically, can lead to a disruption in the body's homeostasis, resulting in pathophysiological changes. This raises the question of to what extent the stressful environment experienced by military police officers in the state of Rio de Janeiro, combined with poor sleep quality, influences the development of parafunctional habits and impacts their oral health. Military male police officers (211); 37.8 ± 5.5 years old, 86.6 ± 12.1 kg, overweight (27.7 ± 3.5 kg/m²), 11.9 ± 5.6 years of experience; were divided into two groups and were submitted a sociodemographic questionnaire and evaluated for the presence of occupational stress, sleep quality (SQ), mandibular function (MFIQ) and oral health self-perception (OHIP-14). They were diagnosed with poor sleep quality (59.5%/p = .023) and symptoms of occupational stress (34.6%); while psychological discomfort (p = .005) and the act of chewing hard food are the items that cause the greatest negative impact on oral health (OHIP-14) and jaw function (MFIQ). Self-perception of oral health can be directly correlated with occupational stress (p < .05) and poorer sleepers had higher values of functional mandibular impairment (p = .022). Oral health and mandibular function did not negatively affect these soldiers, who were able to carry out their work and social activities normally.

Treatment and research centered on trauma-related mental health issues have largely focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, moral injury is another important mental health concern requiring attention. There is a paucity of research examining how PTSD and moral injury affect emotion regulation. The current investigation examined how PTSD clusters and moral injury subtypes were uniquely associated with difficulties with emotion regulation. Participants consisted of 253 previously deployed military personnel who were recruited online. To be included in the study, participants had to verify that they had served in the U.S. Military, had been deployed as part of their military service, and endorsed elevated levels of symptoms associated with PTSD and/or moral injury. A hierarchical linear regression was conducted to examine the association between PTSD symptom clusters, moral injury subtypes, and difficulties with emotion regulation. Results indicated that alterations in arousal and reactivity was the only PTSD symptom cluster associated with difficulties with emotion regulation. Self-transgressions was the only facet of moral injury significantly associated with difficulties with emotion regulation. This is the first study to examine the association between emotion dysregulation, PTSD symptom clusters, and moral injury in previously deployed U.S. Military.

After a full-scale armed conflict, tens of thousands of service members, including professional warfighters and reservists, return home facing an increased risk of PTSD and other mental disorders, as well as various reintegration difficulties that can impact their well-being, social relationships, and quality of life. Numerous countries and armed forces have developed post-deployment adaptation programs (PDAPs) and interventions to mitigate these risks. A rapid review was conducted to synthesize the research literature on rapid and short-term psychological support practices during the post-deployment homecoming phase of a full-scale armed conflict. The aim was to identify practices with scientific support when the homecoming phase is limited to a maximum of three days and that could be offered on a scalable basis to all returning service members. Several PDAPs and interventions were identified. The role of psychoeducation, help-seeking, and social support as other supportive practices was also assessed, suggesting possible interventions and online measures to increase these behaviors in the homecoming population.