Promoting Psychological Resilience in the U.S. Military

Promoting Psychological Resilience in the U.S. Military

LISA S. MEREDITH
CATHY D. SHERBOURNE
SARAH GAILLOT
LYDIA HANSELL
HANS V. RITSCHARD
ANDREW M. PARKER
GLENDA WRENN
Copyright Date: 2011
Published by: RAND Corporation
Pages: 184
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg996osd
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  • Book Info
    Promoting Psychological Resilience in the U.S. Military
    Book Description:

    As U.S. service members deploy for extended periods on a repeated basis, their ability to cope with the stress of deployment may be challenged. Many programs are available to encourage and support psychological resilience among service members and families. However, little is known about these programs' effectiveness. This report reviews resilience literature and programs to identify evidence-informed factors for promoting resilience.

    eISBN: 978-0-8330-5818-8
    Subjects: Psychology

Table of Contents

  1. Front Matter
    (pp. i-ii)
  2. Preface
    (pp. iii-iv)
  3. Table of Contents
    (pp. v-viii)
  4. Figures
    (pp. ix-x)
  5. Tables
    (pp. xi-xii)
  6. Summary
    (pp. xiii-xx)
  7. Acknowledgments
    (pp. xxi-xxii)
  8. Abbreviations
    (pp. xxiii-xxvi)
  9. CHAPTER ONE Introduction, Study Objectives, and Approach
    (pp. 1-10)

    There has been increasing media attention on the mental health conditions and cognitive impairments that affect many service members participating in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Most military personnel do not return from deployments with these “invisible wounds” (Tanielian and Jaycox, 2008). However, only about half of those who do return with symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression see a health care professional for help. In response, former President George W. Bush, Congress, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) convened a number of...

  10. CHAPTER TWO Literature and Expert Review to Identify Factors That Promote Resilience
    (pp. 11-30)

    In this chapter, we discuss the approach taken and findings from the literature review on factors associated with psychological resilience.¹ We first present the data describing the numbers and types of documents reviewed. We follow with data on evidence ratings for the initial list of resilience factors and then present what we found in the literature, organized by each of the final factors.

    As the first stage of our study,² we conducted a review of literature to identify evidence-informed strategies for promoting psychological resilience to stress. We employed a primary database search that covered the literature from January 1, 2000,...

  11. CHAPTER THREE Review of Programs for Promoting Resilience
    (pp. 31-66)

    This chapter describes the approach we used to identify, select, and review resilience programs. We also report the findings from our assessment of a subgroup of resilience programs presented below and organized around four topics:

    1. program characteristics

    2. strategies for promoting resilience

    3. barriers to program implementation

    4. evaluation of program effectiveness, including outcome measures used.

    The final phase of the project involved reviewing a set of resilience programs via interviews with program representatives. The purpose of the interviews was to find out to what extent the evidence-informed resilience factors identified in the literature map onto program content. In...

  12. CHAPTER FOUR Conclusions and Recommendations
    (pp. 67-76)

    This monograph sought to identify the factors that promote resilience by reviewing evidence available in the literature. Although the factors were not empirically derived, they were gathered using a rigorous qualitative approach. They were then used to examine a subset of programs designed to promote resilience in military populations, in order to better understand which evidence-informed factors are utilized by those programs. This chapter summarizes the study’s main findings and reviews recommended actions that can be taken by those currently implementing resilience programs, those planning to develop new programs, and policymakers seeking to improve services and maintain readiness by enhancing...

  13. APPENDIX A Summary of Definitions
    (pp. 77-86)
  14. APPENDIX B.1 Full Database of Resilience Literature
    (pp. 87-102)
  15. APPENDIX B.2 Database of Resilience Literature with Moderate or Strong Evidence by Factor
    (pp. 103-120)
  16. APPENDIX C Full List of Resilience Programs
    (pp. 121-126)
  17. APPENDIX D Brief Program Descriptions
    (pp. 127-154)
  18. Bibliography
    (pp. 155-158)