Resilience is essential to counteract stress and its harmful effects. It is correlated with healthy responses to physiological and psychological stressors. So far, there are few investigations on the effects of resilience training on real-life high-stress situations. The presented study is filling this gap.
Eighty-one cadets of the Swiss Army have been tested. Group one underwent a brief resilience training (RT), whereas group two participated in a diversity management training (DMT). Five weeks after completing these trainings, the cadets had to undergo stressful military exercises. Different measures were applied on them: subjective stress and motivation, positive and negative affect, and cortisol levels. Cadets from the RT group felt more challenged by the exercise but were also more motivated. Cortisol levels rose in both groups but were lower in the RT group. The results indicate that resilience training helps cadets reframe stressful situations and thus should be part of general and especially leadership education.
Reference:
Zueger, R., Niederhauser, M., Utzinger, C., Annen, H., and Ehlert., U.
Effects of resilience training on mental, emotional, and physical stress outcomes in military
officer cadets. Military Psychology, VOL. 35, NO. 6, 566–576 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2022.2139948
Additional information: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37014073/
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