Eating disorders are a persistent and debilitating problem, especially among college age men and women. This problem is exacerbated in occupations such as the military, where maintenance of strict standards regarding weight, fitness and appearance is important for job retention and promotion. Also, previous research confirms that stress is a contributing element to eating disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe U.S. Military Academy at West Point is widely considered the premier leader development institution in the United States.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMil Psychol
September 2024
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point places young men and women in a highly demanding world of extreme mental and physical challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The ability to perform optimally under pressure is critical across many occupations, including the military, first responders, and competitive sport. Despite recognition that such performance depends on a range of cognitive factors, how common these factors are across performance domains remains unclear. The current study sought to integrate existing knowledge in the performance field in the form of a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive mechanisms that underlie performance under pressure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to sharp increases in mental health problems around the world, most notably in anxiety and depression. The present study examines hardiness and age as potential protective factors against the mental health effects of COVID-related stress. A sample of Canadians balanced across age and gender, completed an online survey including measures of COVID related stressors, hardiness, depression, and anxiety, along with age, gender, and other demographics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Burnout is a costly problem, and it appears to be getting worse due to COVID-related stressors. It is thus important for organizations to find better tools to prevent and mitigate worker burnout.
Methods: Conditional PROCESS path analysis was used to assess the relation of hardiness to burnout in a representative sample of U.
Future deep space astronauts must maintain adequate nutrition despite highly stressful, isolated, confined and dangerous environments. The present case-study investigated appetite regulating hormones, nutrition status, and physical and emotional stress in a space analog condition: an explorer conducting a 93-day unsupported solo crossing of Antarctica. Using the dried blood spot (DBS) method, the subject drew samples of his blood on a regular basis during the expedition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeath, grief, and loss have always been a part of the military community. Historically, research on grief in the military has focused on the impact of combat operations and deployment separations on the grief experience of service members and loved ones. However, as the transient nature of military life and the dangers of military service exist outside of combat operations and military deployments, it is important to examine how grief may impact the military community in times of peace as well as war.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Negative emotions related to never having been deployed to active duty are associated with an increased risk of hazardous drinking among United States Army Reserve/National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers. Resiliency factors are known to buffer the effects of combat on hazardous drinking among service members who have been deployed, but it is not known whether these factors are protective for never-deployed service members, or which domains of hazardous drinking might be affected. Therefore, we examined the effects of a range of resiliency factors (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Thousands of military personnel have suffered severe wounds and traumatic amputations in recent overseas conflicts. They face multiple surgeries and long, painful rehabilitation. Despite the tremendous stress for these servicemen and families, many appear to cope quite well and even thrive despite their devastating wounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecruiting for military service can be a highly stressful job, but it is one that is essential for success in the all-volunteer force. Military recruiters face a number of job stressors, including pressure to meet monthly production quotas, long work hours and time away from family. They also work in relative isolation, with limited work social support networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Research suggests that interpersonal and intrapersonal resiliency factors protect against poor post-deployment mental health outcomes among Reserve/Guard soldiers who have been deployed. There is increasing awareness that never-deployed soldiers are also at risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between resiliency factors and a range of mental health outcomes among a sample of United States Army Reserve and National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers who have and have not experienced deployment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMilitary service members are at high risk for problematic substance use compared with the general population; deployment and combat exposure further increases this risk. It is thus critical to identify resiliency factors that can buffer the negative effects of military experiences and potentially prevent problematic alcohol use. The current research examines the extent to which psychological hardiness predicts lower risk of problematic alcohol use and explores potential sex differences in this association.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAerosp Med Hum Perform
June 2018
Introduction: Future deep space missions will expose astronauts to more intense stressors than previously encountered. Isolation will be greater and more prolonged, living and work areas more confined, and communications and resupply channels to Earth longer and less reliable. Astronauts will need to function more autonomously, with less guidance and support from Earth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis exploratory, qualitative study addresses the question: what are the important elements in effective peer support programs for bereaved survivors? Interviews with 10 highly experienced experts were analyzed to identify recurrent themes and elements. Findings indicate that effective peer support programs for the bereaved should be: easily accessible; confidential; provide a safe environment; use peer supporters with similar shared experiences to clients; select peer supporters carefully; partner with professional mental health providers; train peer supporters thoroughly; and provide care and monitoring for peer supporters. These results can help inform efforts to improve peer support programs for bereaved survivors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychol Health Med
February 2019
This study assessed the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the 15-item Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS-15) in a sample of Korean adults. In a baseline study conducted in June 2015, the DRS-15, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and Korean Resilience Questionnaire-53 (KRQ-53) were administered to 409 Korean adults aged 20-79 years. A 1-year follow-up study was conducted in June 2016, and the CES-D was administered to assess predictive validity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis systematic literature review assesses the evidence regarding benefits of peer support services for bereaved survivors of sudden or unexpected death. Reports were included that addressed peer support services for adults who experienced death of a family member, close friend, or coworker. Of the 32 studies meeting all inclusion criteria, most showed evidence that peer support was helpful to bereaved survivors, reducing grief symptoms and increasing well-being and personal growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMilitary personnel often engage in excessive alcohol use after returning from deployments. Thus far, research has paid scant attention to personality factors that may increase or diminish the risk for increased alcohol consumption in this population. The present study explores how psychological hardiness, avoidance coping, and stress exposure may interact to influence alcohol consumption patterns in soldiers following deployment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany, but not all people experience diminished health, performance and well-being as a function of exposure to stress. However, the underlying neurophysiological processes which characterize hardy or resilient people are not well understood. This study examines psychological hardiness and several indicators of cardiovascular health, including body mass index (BMI) and blood cholesterol markers in a sample of 338 middle-aged adults enrolled in a national security education program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssociations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) have not been extensively studied in nonveteran samples. Secondary analysis was conducted using a nationally representative U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMuch research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychological hardiness characterizes people who remain healthy under psychosocial stress. The present exploratory study investigates possible links between hardiness and several immune and neuroendocrine markers: IL-6, IL-12, IL-4, IL-10, & neuropeptide-Y. A total of 21 Norwegian navy cadets were studied in the context of a highly stressful military field exercise.
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