An Exploratory Investigation of Relationships Among Mental Skills and Resilience in Warrior Transition Unit Cadre Members

Abstract

Warrior transition unit (WTU) cadre members are exposed to a variety of stressors that put them at risk for adverse conditions and events. Resilience may be a construct capable of moderating some of these potential negative outcomes. In turn, mental toughness is a concept associated with resilience that may provide a unique framework from which to train resilient behavior. This article explored associations between resilience and several mental skills that are assumed to be related to mental toughness, in a sample (n = 27) of WTU cadre members in the U.S. Army. Instruments included the Ottawa Mental Skills Inventory (OMSAT-3) and the Resilience Scale (RS). Both cognitive mental skills and emotion management skills were positively associated with resilience. Results also indicated a model specifying emotion management as a mediator of the relationship between cognitive skills and resilience was consistent with the study data.

Baseline Burnout Symptoms Predict Visuospatial Executive Function During Survival School Training in Special Operations Military Personnel

“…These results, which are consistent with studies linking psychological factors such as resilience to better cognitive function (Pickering, Hammermeister, Ohlson, Holliday, & Ulmer, 2010;Wingo, Fani, Bradley, & Ressler, 2010), suggest that greater perceptions of self-efficacy may help preserve cognitive function during highly stressful military training. Greater self-efficacy is associated with greater perceptions of purpose and control (Benight & Bandura, 2004), which may in turn help maintain optimal cognitive function during stressful training.…”

“…Results of the current study extend previous research (Lieberman, Bathalon, Falco, Kramer, et al, 2005; Lieberman, Bathalon, Falco, Morgan, et al, 2005; Morgan et al, 2006; Ohman et al, 2007; Paulus et al, 2009; Sandstrom et al, 2005) to show that pre-training baseline assessment of burnout symptoms, particularly perceptions of professional efficacy, may predict cognitive performance during naturalistic, intense military training. These results, which are consistent with studies linking psychological factors such as resilience to better cognitive function (Pickering, Hammermeister, Ohlson, Holliday, & Ulmer, 2010; Wingo, Fani, Bradley, & Ressler, 2010), suggest that greater perceptions of self-efficacy may help preserve cognitive function during highly stressful military training. Greater self-efficacy is associated with greater perceptions of purpose and control (Benight & Bandura, 2004), which may in turn help maintain optimal cognitive function during stressful training.…”

Psychological Predictors of Mental Toughness in Elite Tennis: An Exploratory Study in Learned Resourcefulness and Competitive Trait Anxiety

“…More recently, exploratory and confi rmatory factor analyses have identifi ed resilience as a characteristic of mental toughness (e.g., Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2008 ;Coulter, et al ., 2010 ), thereby denoting resilience as one part of a larger constituency of attributes that encompass mental toughness. On the other hand, Pickering, Hammermeister, Ohlson, Holliday, and Ulmer (2010 ) measured two psychological attributes of mental toughness, emotion management and cognitive skills, using the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool-3 (OMSAT-3;Durand-Bush & Salmela, 2001 ). Separate linear regression models indicated emotion management ( R 2 = .40), and cognitive skills ( R 2 = .47) were useful for predicting resilience.…”

Military Resilience: A Concept Analysis

“…Several definitions of resilience are used in the military literature, including (a) the inner strength necessary to overcome the negative effects of combat (Jarrett, ); (b) the ability to adapt or change in adverse circumstances (Pietrzak, Johnson, et al., ); (c) finding positive meanings in adverse situations (Green, Calhoun, Dennis, the Mid‐Atlantic Mental Illness Workgroup, & Beckham, 2010; Pickering, Hammermeister, Ohlson, Holliday, & Ulmer, ); (d) strengths that protect against developing mental illnesses in response to trauma (Hoge, Austin, & Pollack, ); (e) rebounding from adversity without acting in “dysfunctional or harmful ways” (Siebert, , p. 9); and (f) the ability to thrive when challenged, bending without breaking (Sheehy, ). The most recent program developed for soldiers in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania is based on work by Seligman, where resilience is defined as a set of processes that enable positive outcomes despite serious threats (Reivich, Seligman, & McBride, ).…”