Symposia
Military and Veterans Psychology
Emily Ricker, Ph.D.
Scientist, Consortium for Health and Military Performance, Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Bend, Oregon
Emily Ricker, Ph.D.
Scientist, Consortium for Health and Military Performance, Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Bend, Oregon
Amelia Barrett, M.S., ATC
Program Manager, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Uniformed Services University
Bethesda, Maryland
Daniel Clifton, PhD, ATC
Research Scientist
Henry M jackson foundation for the advancement of military medicine, uniformed services university of the health sciences
Bethesda, Maryland
Carl Goforth, PhD, RN
Chief Nursing Officer
Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Jacksonville, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Bethesda, Maryland
Sarah de la Motte, PhD, MPH, ATC
Scientific Director, Injury Prevention Research Laboratory, Consortium for Health and Military Performance, Department of Military and Emergency Medicineory
Uniformed Services University
Bethesda, Maryland
Background: Military training presents extreme physical and psychological challenges. Psychosocial characteristics, such as motivation, grit, and perceived social support, may influence one’s capacity to endure these challenges. Our goal was to compare measures of motivation, resilience, grit, and perceived support and harassment between male and female military officers during secondary training.
Methods: Surveys were completed by 130 female and 130 age- and commissioning source-matched male officers graduating from a six-month leadership course, including the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS: intrinsic motivation [IM], identified regulation [IR], external regulation [ER], and amotivation [AM]), Short Grit Scale (Grit-S), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2 (DRRI-2), which includes perceived unit support, family and friends support, and perceived experiences of general harassment. All were adapted to refer to the most recent training environment. Associations between sex and all surveys were assessed using a binary logistic regression controlling for demographic and lifestyle characteristics (race, age, smoking and marital status, musculoskeletal injury history).
Results: The majority of officers (25.7±3.2 years) identified as White/Caucasian (74%), non-married (76%), and non-smokers (91%). Twenty-two percent of males and 27% of females reported sustaining a musculoskeletal injury in the six months prior to training. Males (M) and females (F) reported similar levels of motivation (SIMS IM: 4.2±0.1; IR 5.0±0.1; ER 4.7±0.1; AM 2.5±0.1), grit (Grit-S 3.8±0.04), resilience (CD-RISC 30.5±0.6), and perceived support from their unit and friends/family (DRRI-2 unit 44.1±0.6; family/friends 34.6±0.4) (p≥0.17). Being female was associated with experiencing greater perceived general harassment compared to being male (DRRI-2 general harassment: M: 11.1±0.3, F: 13.2±0.4, OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.08-1.24, p< 0.0001).
Conclusions: Females reported greater perceived general harassment during a training course compared to males, as assessed by the DRRI-2. Items on this subscale measure officers’ experiences of being treated in an overly critical way, working harder than others to prove themselves, and having abilities or commitment questioned. Understanding harassment experiences between males and females during leadership training can provide insight into areas for improvement and support early in officers’ military careers.