Bolstering Cognitive Resilience via Train-the-Trainer Delivery of Mindfulness Training in Applied High-Demand Settings

Abstract

Objectives Mindfulness training (MT) guidelines recommend that trainers have familiarity and knowledge of the training group as well as extensive MT expertise. Herein, a "train-the-trainer" (TTT) dissemination model was investigated for military service members whose access to MT is threatened by a scarcity of qualified trainers. Methods US Army Master Resilience Trainer-Performance Experts (PEs), who had extensive familiarity with soldiers but no prior MT experience, participated in an MT practicum, and then delivered a 4-week MT program (Mindfulness-Based Attention Training, MBAT) contextualized for military personnel. Soldiers (n = 180) undergoing intensive military field training over the study interval were recruited as participants. MBAT was delivered to soldiers by PEs (n = 89) or by a trainer with extensive MT experience (Mindfulness Expert; ME, n = 45) but no military familiarity. The remaining participants served as no-training controls (NTC, n = 46). Soldiers' performance on sustained attention and working memory (WM) tasks was assessed before (week 0, T1) and after MBAT delivery (week 5, T2), and again 4 weeks later (week 10, T3). Results For all participants, sustained attention and WM performance declined over the high-demand field training interval (p < 0.001). Yet, the PE group declined significantly less in attentional (p = 0.040) and WM (p < 0.001) performance relative to the other groups. Conclusions These results suggest that TTT delivery of short-form MT by context-familiar trainers may be an expeditious route by which to increase access to MT in the service of promoting cognitive resilience in high-demand groups.

The Effect of Mindfulness-based Programs on Cognitive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…Some studies demonstrating improved cognition have modified MBPs to address the needs of a specific population, like the Mindfulness-based mind fitness training course developed to address the specific needs of the military (Jha et al, 2010(Jha et al, , 2015 or the Mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement program which focuses on addiction, opioiddependent and chronic pain populations Garland et al, 2017). A number of non-RCT studies have now shown improvements in working memory using the operation span task (Jha et al, 2010), or a lack of degradation of sustained attention, inhibitory control capacity and working memory in military cohorts following Mindfulnessbased mind fitness training (Jha et al, 2015(Jha et al, , 2017(Jha et al, , 2020. Participants randomized to Mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement exhibited significantly reduced attentional bias in comparison to active controls Garland et al, 2017).…”

An examination of authentic leadership as an individual and social factor of resilience

“…As scheduling active-duty cohorts can be challenging, this methodology is consistent with other military studies (e.g. Adler et al, 2008;Jha et al, 2020). Personal identifying information was removed from the…”

Investigating the Impact of Peer-Trainer Delivered Mindfulness Training on Cognitive Abilities and Psychological Health

“…Because such time requirements can be prohibitively burdensome for time-pressured groups, there is growing interest in determining the effectiveness of short-form MT in non-clinical settings as a route by which to promote cognitive functioning and psychological well-being (Creswell, 2017). Short-form MT has been found to benefit cognitive functions in a variety of time-pressured, high-demand groups from undergraduate students (Morrison et al, 2014;Mrazek et al, 2013) and athletes (Rooks et al, 2017) to first responders (Denkova et al, 2020) and military service members (Jha et al, 2020;Zanesco et al, 2019). For many of these groups, greater engagement in mindfulness practice corresponds with greater cognitive benefits (Denkova et al, 2020;Rooks et al, 2017;Zanesco et al, 2019).…”

“…A recent study examined the effectiveness of short-form MT delivered by professional mental skills trainers, with significant military context familiarity but no prior experience with MT. Using a "train-the-trainer" approach (Jha et al, 2020), mindfulness-naïve, context-familiar trainers were offered a 12-week practicum to gain first-person familiarity with mindfulness practices and concepts, as well as to achieve proficiency in delivering a short-form MT program contextualized for soldiers. Compared to soldiers who received no training as well as those who received the same MT program delivered by a mindfulness expert who lacked military familiarity, those trained by the context-familiar trainers demonstrated protective effects in cognitive functioning (i.e., sustained attention and working memory).…”

“…In the present study, we conducted a train-the-trainer study to address the scalability challenges of MT dissemination to a non-clinical sample of military spouses, following the approach of Jha et al (2020). Given the prior evidence that military spouses are a vulnerable (Green et al, 2013), timepressured group who may benefit from MT (Zhang et al, 2019), the study aimed to examine the impact of train-thetrainer delivery of a short-form MT program by military spouse trainer instructors.…”