Resilience as a Protective Factor in Basic Military Training, a Longitudinal Study of the Swiss Armed Forces

Sandra Sefidan, Maria Pramstaller, Roberto La Marca, Thomas Wyss, Dena Sadeghi-Bahmani, Hubert Annen and Serge Brand
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Sandra Sefidan: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Maria Pramstaller: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Roberto La Marca: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Thomas Wyss: Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen SFISM, 2532 Magglingen, Switzerland
Dena Sadeghi-Bahmani: Sleep Disorders Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah 67146, Iran
Hubert Annen: Military Academy, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Serge Brand: Sleep Disorders Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah 67146, Iran

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: For recruits, basic military training (BMT) can be experienced as a stressful episode in which relevant protective factors such as resilience might be essential for successful completion of the training. The present study examined whether resilience would act as a protective factor during BMT in the Swiss Armed Forces. To this end, we conducted a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of resilience and psychological burden. At the beginning of the BMT and at week 11, 525 male recruits (mean age: 20.3 years) completed a series of questionnaires covering demographic information and assessing resilience, perceived stress and mental distress. In parallel, their superiors rated recruits’ military performance in week 13. Dropout rates were also registered. Cross-sectionally and longitudinally, higher resilience scores predicted lower scores for perceived stress, mental distress, and better military performance. Higher self-rated resilience was moderately associated with military performance, as rated by recruits’ superiors. Resilience scores, perceived stress and mental distress did not differ between those recruits continuing their BMT and dropouts. In support of our assumptions, resilience acted as a protective factor during Swiss Armed Forces BMT.

Keywords: resilience; perceived stress; mental distress; dropout; performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:6077-:d:569062

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