Selection of Key Stressors to Develop Virtual Environments for Practicing Stress Management Skills with Military Personnel Prior to Deployment

Abstract

Virtual environments (VEs) are presently being used to treat military personnel suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In an attempt to reduce the risk of PTSD, VEs may also be useful for stress management training (SMT) to practice skills under stress, but such use necessitates the development of relevant stress-inducing scenarios and storyboards. This article describes the procedures followed to select which VEs could be built for the Canadian Forces. A review and analysis of the available literature and of data collected postdeployment from 1,319 respondents on the frequency of stressors and their association with psychological injuries were pulled together to propose eight potential virtual stressors that can be used to practice SMT: seeing dead bodies or uncovering human remains; knowing someone being seriously injured or killed; receiving artillery fire; being unable to help ill or wounded civilians because of the rules of engagement; seeing destroyed homes and villages; clearing and searching homes, caves, or bunkers; receiving small-arms fire; and participating in demining operations. Information reported in this article could also be useful to document traumatic stressors experienced in theater of operations and their potential impact on psychological injuries.

Mediation of Cognitive Appraisal on Combat Exposure and Psychological Distress

“…performance and well-being (e.g., Bouchard, Baus, Bernier, & McCreary, 2010;Dekel, Solomon, Ginzburg, & Neria, 2003;Farley & Catano, 2006;Nisenbaum, Barett, Reyes, & Reeves, 2000;Vasterling et al, 2010), the cumulative effects of operational stressors or combat exposure (e.g., Bartone, Adler, & Vaitkus, 1998;Dohrenwend et al, 2006;Engelhard & van den Hout, 2007; Office of the Surgeon Multinational Force-Iraq & Office of the Surgeon General U.S. Army Medical Command, 2006), and external protective factors, such as leadership and cohesion (e.g., Farley & Veitch, 2003; Office of the Surgeon Multinational Force-Iraq, 2006). Surprisingly little research has been dedicated to understanding the psychological mechanisms responsible for varied reactions to combat stimuli.…”

“…While it is clear that risk for psychological distress, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Bouchard et al, 2010;Dohrenwend et al, 2006;Engelhard & van den Hout, 2007), increases with combat exposure, the nature of this relationship is more complex. Individual differences in mood or resilience (Riolli, Savicki, & Spain, 2010), personality (e.g., neuroticism; Engelhard & van den Hout, 2007), or self-efficacy (Jex, Bliese, Buzzell, & Primeau, 2001) may mediate and/or moderate the relationship, though these factors may also contribute to how the events are appraised.…”

Examination of the Impact of Condensed Biofeedback Training on Acute Stress Responses

“…Each scenario required the participant to respond to five stressful decision events with varying levels of unpredictability, uncontrollability, novelty, duration and intensity, five dimensions shown to impact stress response [38] [39]. In order to ensure each participant received a novel stressor during each stress induction phase, the stress induction tech- …”

Trauma and Self-Narrative in Virtual Reality: Toward Recreating a Healthier Mind

“…For the connection between the idea of virtual on one hand and the idea of trauma and life story on the other hand, the study focuses on the concept of transfer of experience (Georgieva, 2011b) from the virtual space to the real life in the form of life experiences. It also discusses the immersiveness of the virtual space and the application of the feeling of presence in PTSD therapy (Mantovani and Riva, 1999;Bouchard et al, 2010).…”