“We are excited about this project because it enables the creation of engaging military-relevant material that highlights resilience skills in tough, realistic conditions, ensuring that military personnel are able to see the benefit of incorporating these skills into their lives.”
“I'm really pleased to be part of the team developing realistic and engaging videos that illustrate how mental skills can be used in the field -- moving these upstream resilience skills from the theoretical to the practical.”
Warrior Mindset: Gaining a Tactical Advantage
Description
Current research has documented the benefits of upstream positive psychology skills in improving Soldier mental health and performance. At present, the Army uses outdated and re-purposed videos to illustrate these positive psychology skills in the context of combat as part of Performance and Resilience Enhancement (PRE) training, which is required under AR 350-53. Our team has revised, updated and broadened the video scenarios to improve PRE and more effectively teach such skills. In the Warrior Mindset: Gaining a Tactical Advantage video, individual segments were edited to depict resilience techniques to demonstrate their added value in a practical manner as an upstream suicide prevention tool.
Strategic Alignment with National Suicide Prevention Goals
CDC Suicide Prevention Strategies
As it is outlined in the CDC's "Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices," our project is aligned with the following strategies:
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Create Protective Environments
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Promote Connectedness
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Teach Coping and Problem-Solving Skills
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White House Priorities
As it is outlined in The White House "Fact Sheet: New Strategy Outlines Five Priorities for Reducing Military and Veteran Suicide," our project is aligned with the following priorities:
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Addressing Upstream Risk and Protective Factors
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Selected References
- Adler AB, Bliese PD, Pickering MA, Hammermeister J, Williams J, Harada C, Csoka L, Holliday B, Ohlson C. Mental skills training with basic combat training soldiers: A group-randomized trial. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2015 Nov;100(6):1752.
- Brassington K, Lomas T. Can resilience training improve well-being for people in high-risk occupations? A systematic review through a multidimensional lens. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 2021 Sep 3;16(5):573-92.
- Fitzwater JPJ, Arthur CA, Hardy L. “The tough get tougher”: Mental skills training with elite military recruits. Sport Exerc. Perform. Psychol. 2018; 7(1): 93–107.