The Effects of Platoon Leader Mental Health and Resilience Training on Soldier Problematic Anger
Sponsor
The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program under Award No. W81XWH-18-PHTBIRP-R2OE-TRA (PI Hammer). This work was also partly supported by the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at Oregon Health & Science University via funds from the Division of Consumer and Business Services of the State of Oregon (ORS 656.630). Portions of this research were also supported by the Grant #T03OH008435 awarded to Portland State University, funded by the CDC and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Published In
Military Medicine
Document Type
Citation
Publication Date
8-17-2024
Abstract
Introduction The DoD has prioritized programs to optimize readiness by enhancing resilience of its service members. Problematic anger in the military is an issue that impacts psychological well-being and resilience. Leader support is a potential tactic for reducing anger and its effects. Currently military resilience training is focused on individual level resilience. A gap exists in such training and there is a need to train leaders to provide mental health and resilience support to their subordinates. The present study developed and tested a theory-based training aimed at platoon leaders that focused on how to engage in proactive and responsive mental health and resilience-supportive behaviors through guided discussion, scenarios, and computer-based training with embedded quizzes. Materials and Methods We conducted an Institutional Review Board–approved cluster randomized controlled trial to test the effects of a leadership training with Army platoon leaders (n = 99) and soldiers (n = 276) in 2 brigades at an active duty military installation in the USA. Training was conducted in person with a computer-based component. Soldiers completed online surveys 1 month prior and again 3 months after the leader training. Results Post-training results demonstrated significant leader learning effects (Cohen’s d = 1.56) and leader positive reactions to the training information, with leaders reporting the information as useful and relevant to their work. Service members in the treatment group reported significantly lower levels of anger at time 2 (b = −0.18, SE = 0.06, P = .002, pseudo ΔR2 = 0.01; d = 0.27) compared to the control group. We also found an indirect effect of the intervention on increased life satisfaction at time 2 via decreased anger (b = 0.035, SE = 0.023, 95% CI = [0.004-0.24]). Conclusions This study provides an initial evaluation of training for platoon leaders that educates them on proactive and responsive behavioral strategies to support the mental health and resilience of their service members via decreased problematic anger and increased well-being. Further adaptations and evaluations should be conducted with other military branches and civilian occupations, as the benefits of the relatively brief and noninvasive training could be widespread.
Rights
Copyright © 2024 The Society of Federal Health Professionals
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1093/milmed/usae171
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42543
Citation Details
Hammer, L., Brockwood, K., Dimoff, J., Allen, S., Mohr, C., Dretsch, M., Lee, J., & Britt, T. (2024). The Effects of Platoon Leader Mental Health and Resilience Training on Soldier Problematic Anger. Military Medicine, 189(Supplement_3), 501–509.