摘要 :
The goal of the NATO Human Factors & Medicine (HFM) Research & Technology Task Group (RTG-203) Mental Health Training is to develop prototypes of mental health and resilience training for service members. Mental health training has the potential to strengthen the ability of service members to respond to the psychological demands of military life. Ideally, this kind of mental health and resilience training should begin during basic training and be followed across the individual s military career. In order to begin developing a Training Module template for Mental Health Training during Basic or Recruit Training, RTG-203 has compiled a database of standardized mental health and resilience training programs currently delivered in member nations. The presentation reports on the core elements of mental health and resilience training across eleven member nations, summarizes the findings, and discusses how the database will be used to inform the development of a NATO Mental Health Resilience Training Module Template for Initial Basic Training. This presentation is intended for Psychological Resilience and Mental Health Training tracks....
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The goal of the NATO Human Factors & Medicine (HFM) Research & Technology Task Group (RTG-203) Mental Health Training is to develop prototypes of mental health and resilience training for service members. Mental health training has the potential to strengthen the ability of service members to respond to the psychological demands of military life. Ideally, this kind of mental health and resilience training should begin during basic training and be followed across the individual s military career. In order to begin developing a Training Module template for Mental Health Training during Basic or Recruit Training, RTG-203 has compiled a database of standardized mental health and resilience training programs currently delivered in member nations. The presentation reports on the core elements of mental health and resilience training across eleven member nations, summarizes the findings, and discusses how the database will be used to inform the development of a NATO Mental Health Resilience Training Module Template for Initial Basic Training. This presentation is intended for Psychological Resilience and Mental Health Training tracks.
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Mirroring the civilian literature, military research has shown that married individuals tend to engage in fewer health risk behaviors, such as substance misuse, compared to individuals who were not married. These findings are cons...
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Mirroring the civilian literature, military research has shown that married individuals tend to engage in fewer health risk behaviors, such as substance misuse, compared to individuals who were not married. These findings are consistent with the extensive civilian research literature documenting the physical and mental health advantage of being married, especially for men. However, few military studies have examined the relationship between marital status and other risk behaviors such as reckless driving. Using cross-sectional data collected from U.S. soldiers (n=2,588) six months after Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, six self-reported risk behaviors are assessed: driving under the influence of alcohol, using alcohol to sleep or calm down, riding with an alcohol-impaired driver, non-seat belt use while driving, reckless driving, and risky sexual behavior. The prevalence of these behaviors is reported for three marital status groups: currently married, never married, and previously married (separated/widowed/divorced). The associations between marital status and the risk behaviors are also examined with logistic regression analyses adjusting for combat exposure, mental health problems, alcohol misuse, gender, education, rank, number of children supported financially, and service type. In these analyses, never married and previously married soldiers are compared to married soldiers. Findings show that for all six risk behaviors, prevalence rates were highest in either the never married or the previously married group. For one of the outcomes (driving with an alcohol-impaired driver), the prevalence rate was identical in both the never and previously married groups.
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Although documentation that war inflicts psychological casualties dates back to the American Civil War, most research began after the Vietnam conflict, when studies focused primarily on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With o...
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Although documentation that war inflicts psychological casualties dates back to the American Civil War, most research began after the Vietnam conflict, when studies focused primarily on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been significant research to illuminate the epidemiology of war-related psychological casualties. Significant findings include an appreciation for the role combat plays in the development of mental disorders, including PTSD, depression, alcohol misuse, somatic symptoms, and others. Recent research has endeavored to understand and improve psychological resilience to temper the negative effects of combat on mental health. With over 2 million U.S. service members involved in the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts, military mental health practitioners have observed a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. service members who have obtained care. Additionally, the Department of Defense has aggressively worked to improve mental health care. The Department of Veterans Affairs has seen increases in veterans seeking care for mental disorders, and it is adapting staffing levels to meet current and future needs. Scientists will continue efforts to better understand the determinants and prevention of combat-related mental disorders, and they will work with clinicians who strive to improve services and treatment modalities for veterans.
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Combat places extraordinary demands on every individual, particularly the junior leader. The cumulative demands of combat may affect the leader's ability to lead his or her unit, resulting in members of their unit being tempted to...
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Combat places extraordinary demands on every individual, particularly the junior leader. The cumulative demands of combat may affect the leader's ability to lead his or her unit, resulting in members of their unit being tempted to quit. However, there are actions that leaders can take to build resiliency in their Soldiers, enabling them to lead their subordinates through the stressors of combat. Within the framework of social psychological contract theory, we outline two general approaches to leadership, the rigid institutional approach and the flexible pragmatic approach. The rigid institutional leader is characterized by (a) performing only those leader actions mandated by directives (such as policies and regulations), (b) demanding that subordinates show them respect based on their position within the organization and (c) forbidding any form of criticism from their subordinates. In contrast, the flexible pragmatic leader is characterized by (a) engaging in actions that are not mandated by policies or directives, such as giving Soldiers time off following high periods of workload, (b) expecting respect shown to them by their subordinates to be based on both their position within the organization and the soundness of their decisions, and (c) encouraging their subordinates to criticize their policies and decisions with the aim to improve unit functioning. Next, based on surveys and focus groups with Soldiers in a combat environment or with Soldiers recently returned from combat, we identify those leader actions that serve to build Soldier resiliency, focusing on both behaviors that leaders should and should not engage in.
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Recently, military researchers have recognized the need to focus on a unique organizational stressor currently affecting the military, operations tempo (OPTEMPO). In the present study OPTEMPO survey data and unit performance data ...
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Recently, military researchers have recognized the need to focus on a unique organizational stressor currently affecting the military, operations tempo (OPTEMPO). In the present study OPTEMPO survey data and unit performance data were collected from 10 companies from the United States Army, Europe operating in garrison, training, and deployed settings. We posited that the impact of OPTEMPO on performance would not be universally detrimental, and that there would be differences in OPTEMPO, performance, and the relationship between OPTEMPO and performance across settings. Hypotheses were generally supported. OPTEMPO was most frequently found to be positively associated with performance whereas the perception of work overload was negatively related. The training environment had higher levels of OPTEMPO and performance than garrison or deployment. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
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Psychological screening for U.S. military began as part of the Joint Medical Surveillance Program conducted from 1996 to 1999 for personnel prior to their re-deployment from Bosnia. The program's primary goals were to provide proa...
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Psychological screening for U.S. military began as part of the Joint Medical Surveillance Program conducted from 1996 to 1999 for personnel prior to their re-deployment from Bosnia. The program's primary goals were to provide proactive mental health outreach, project patient load, and develop a clinical profile for those requiring referral. The objective of the present study was to examine personal and clinical history variables that identify those individuals whose scores on the clinical screening indicate psychological risk. The sample consisted of 1,785 U.S. soldiers who were screened one to three months prior to their 6-month peacekeeping deployment to Kosovo. The psychological screening survey included a section on demographics, scales measuring depression, post- traumatic stress symptoms, and alcohol problems, and a series of clinical and problem history questions. Findings indicated that clinical and problem history variables predicted psychological referral status. Psychological screening, when supplemented by clinical and personal history questions can significantly enhance health surveillance initiatives.
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摘要 :
This article reviews the literature on health surveillance conducted during military deployments, focusing on models for assessing the impact of operational deployments on peacekeepers. A discussion of the stressors and potential ...
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This article reviews the literature on health surveillance conducted during military deployments, focusing on models for assessing the impact of operational deployments on peacekeepers. A discussion of the stressors and potential mental health consequences of peacekeeping operations follows, with relevant examples of findings from U.S. and international military forces. Psychological screening in different peacekeeping operations conducted in U.S. Army-Europe is reviewed. The review begins with the redeployment screening of military personnel deployed to Bosnia mandated under the Joint Medical Surveillance Program, and continues through the present screening of units deployed to Kosovo. The detailed description of the screening program includes a discussion of procedures and measures and demonstrates the evolution of the program. A summary of key findings from the screening program and a discussion of future research directions are provided.
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