Comprehensive Soldier Fitness: Building resilience in a challenging institutional context.

The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program is designed to increase psychological strength and positive performance and to reduce the incidence of maladaptive responses of the entire U.S. Army. Based on the principles of positive psychology, CSF is a historically unique approach to behavioral health in a large (1.1 million members) organization. There are four program elements: (a) the assessment of emotional, social, family, and spiritual fitness; (b) individualized learning modules to improve fitness in these domains; (c) formal resilience training; and (d) training of Army master resilience trainers (MRTs) to instill better thinking skills and resilience in their subordinates. In contrast to traditional approaches, CSF is proactive; rather than waiting to see who has a negative outcome following stress, it provides ways of improving resilience for all members of the Army. CSF aims to move the full spectrum of responses to trauma and adversity—ranging from stress-related disorders to ordinary resilience—toward personal growth. This program may provide a model for implementing similar interventions in other very large institutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bringing science to bear: An empirical assessment of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.

This article outlines the U.S. Army's effort to empirically validate and assess the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program. The empirical assessment includes four major components. First, the CSF scientific staff is currently conducting a longitudinal study to determine if the Master Resilience Training program and the Comprehensive Resilience Modules lead to lasting resilience development in soldiers. Second, the CSF program has partnered with other researchers to conduct a series of longitudinal studies examining the link between physiological, neurobiological, and psychological resilience factors. Third, the CSF program is also incorporating institutional-level data to determine if its material influences health, behavioral, and career outcomes. Fourth, group randomized trials are being conducted to ensure that resilience training incorporated under the CSF program is effective with soldiers. A specific rationale and methodologies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Soldier Fitness Tracker: Global delivery of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

Carefully implemented technology strategies are vital to the success of large-scale initiatives such as the U.S. Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program. Achieving the U.S. Army's vision for CSF required a robust information technology platform that was scaled to millions of users and that leveraged the Internet to enable global reach. The platform needed to be agile, provide powerful real-time reporting, and have the capacity to quickly transform to meet emerging requirements. Existing organizational applications, such as “Single Sign-On,” and authoritative data sources were exploited to the maximum extent possible. Development of the “Soldier Fitness Tracker” is the most recent, and possibly the best, demonstration of the potential benefits possible when existing organizational capabilities are married to new, innovative applications. Combining the capabilities of the extant applications with the newly developed applications expedited development, eliminated redundant data collection, resulted in the exceeding of program objectives, and produced a comfortable experience for the end user, all in less than six months. This is a model for future technology integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Building spiritual fitness in the Army: An innovative approach to a vital aspect of human development.

This article describes the development of the spiritual fitness component of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program. Spirituality is defined in the human sense as the journey people take to discover and realize their essential selves and higher order aspirations. Several theoretically and empirically based reasons are articulated for why spirituality is a necessary component of the CSF program: Human spirituality is a significant motivating force, spirituality is a vital resource for human development, and spirituality is a source of struggle that can lead to growth or decline. A conceptual model developed by Sweeney, Hannah, and Snider (2007) is used to identify several psychological structures and processes that facilitate the development of the human spirit. From this model, an educational, computer-based program has been developed to promote spiritual resilience. This program consists of three tiers: (a) building awareness of the self and the human spirit, (b) building awareness of resources to cultivate the human spirit, and (c) building awareness of the human spirit of others. Further research will be needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this innovative and potentially important program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment for the U.S. Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program: The Global Assessment Tool.

Psychology and the U.S. military have a long history of collaboration. The U.S. Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program aims to measure the psychosocial strengths and assets of soldiers as well as their problems, to identify those in need of basic training in a given domain as well as those who would benefit from advanced training, and then to provide that training. The goals of the CSF program include the promotion of well-being as well as the prevention of problems. Assessment is the linchpin of the CSF program, and the Global Assessment Tool (GAT) is a self-report survey that measures psychosocial fitness in emotional, social, family, and spiritual domains. We review the history of psychological assessment in the military and the lessons taught by this history. Then we describe the process by which the GAT was developed and evaluated. We conclude with a discussion of pending next steps in the development and use of the GAT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "never-to-be-forgotten investigation": Luella W. Cole, Sidney L. Pressey, and mental surveying in Indiana, 1917–1921.

The case of Cole and Pressey's mental survey of southern counties in Indiana provides a microhistorical view of intelligence testing and its popularization. Providing fresh insight into the nature and commerce of mental surveying outside of the Army's notorious program during World War I, this case is an example of larger phenomena at that time. Intent on popularizing their products, Cole and Pressey attended to the minutiae of the consumption and production of their psychological apparatus in their attempts to create and satisfy market conditions. Here, markets would dictate the success of their scales, and in turn mediate their psychology. I argue that the popularization of intelligence testing had as much to do with the mundane market practices of psychologists as with the intellectual practices of Army elites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The history of the Army weight standards

Medical officers in the U.S. Army are tasked with screening, evaluating, and processing soldiers in accordance with AR 600-9, the Army's height and weight standards regulation. This essay traces the origins of the Army's weight standards to the present day. The Army's height and weight standards have varied markedly, from the crude subjective assessment of selective service candidates at the local draft examination boards at the turn of the century to the modern, highly accurate methods currently used in anthropomorphic research. The strictness of military recruitment and retention standards closely paralleled changing military personnel requirements in any particular era. Racial integration and the influx of women into the ranks had noteworthy effects on this history. The evolution of the Army's weight-control program and screening standards reflects advancements in medical knowledge and technology, societal and political pressure, and the empirical tests of world wars.     

African-American dentists in the U.S. Army: the origins

The majority of the dentists mentioned in this work are unknown both to dental and military historians. However, the contributions of Dr. William T. Jefferson, the first African-American dentist to treat U.S. Army soldiers in Cuba, Dr. William A. Birch, the first black hospital steward/dentist to serve unofficially (as a dentist) overseas in the Philippine campaign, and the dental veterans of 1917-1918, deserve recognition. They were among the early pioneers in the U.S. Army's dental history.     

Validity of behavioral assessment for predicting military recruiter performance.

Determined the validity of an assessment center designed to help select US Army recruiters. 16 experienced recruiters assessed 57 soldiers entering the Army's recruiter school, and assessment ratings were correlated with subsequent performance in training. A composite of assessment ratings yielded corrected validities of near .50. In contrast, first-impression evaluations, ratings based on a structured interview, and scores on a test developed to predict success in military recruiting correlated near zero with performance in training. Results confirm that valid assessment does not require behavioral scientists as assessors, and analyses suggest that statistical composites of assessment ratings on individual exercises may be slightly more valid than clinical consensus judgments made after discussion of assessment performance. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Length of stay and program component effects in the treatment of alcoholism: A comparison of two techniques for process analyses.

Evaluated the effects of length of treatment and specific treatment components (therapy sessions, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and films and lectures on alcoholism) of 3 residential alcoholism programs. Two statistical techniques—partial correlation and treatment-effect correlation—were compared for their estimates of treatment effects after controlling for patient background characteristics and functioning at intake. Longer periods of treatment were associated with better outcome for the 59 residents of a halfway house but not for the 92 patients at a milieu-oriented program or the 97 males at a Salvation Army center. Evidence suggest that the 3 program components tended to have moderately beneficial effects on outcome, although the results varied in some cases, depending on whether partial or treatment-effect correlation was used in the analysis. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social resilience: The value of social fitness with an application to the military.

Resilience has been regarded narrowly as a quintessential individual property by most investigators. Social resilience, however, is inherently a multilevel construct, revealed by capacities of individuals, but also groups, to foster, engage in, and sustain positive social relationships and to endure and recover from stressors and social isolation. Emergent levels of organization, ranging from dyads, families, and groups to cities, civilizations, and international alliances have long been apparent in human existence, but identifying the features of individuals, relationships, and group structures and norms that promote social resilience—and determining effective interventions to build social resilience—represent some of the most important challenges facing the military as well as contemporary behavioral science. We identify nine personal resources that foster social resilience, and we describe an educational, computer-based program that builds on these resources in an effort to improve the social resilience among troops in the U.S. Army. Data from this program should provide valuable evidence regarding the challenge of building social resilience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How clinical psychology interns are selected: A study of decision-making processes.

Investigated factors influencing the decision to select clinical psychology students for a predoctoral internship program, using a path analysis procedure. Two clinical psychology faculty members rated 18 internship applications. Direct and indirect relationships of 3 preselection factors—academic preparation, clinical experience, and letter of reference—were examined. Results indicate that academic preparation and clinical experience operate as separate selection decisions in unique and complex ways. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual community prevention theory: Building interventions with community agency collaboration.

Translation from research to practice faces numerous problems that include replicating effectiveness, fidelity to the protocol and processes, and adaptations to different types of target populations. Working collaboratively with existing service providers can speed up the time for development and can ease the implementation of empirical randomized trials. Contextual community prevention theory is an innovative approach that focuses on changing behaviors of community members by creating a visible institutional presence that draws and pulls the targeted population into the organization’s activities and interventions. The result is an institution or organization within the community that provides a new active and dynamic context, engaging its community members into its activities, interventions, and functions. An HIV prevention program developed collaboratively from the ground up for Latino gay/bisexual men is presented. Results from the program evaluation efforts across the years suggest promise for testing its efficacy through a randomized trial. HIV prevention efforts need to develop dynamic support systems within communities where these men have ownership, have control, and feel safe; otherwise HIV infection rates in this population will increase. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of deployment on U.S. military families.

Several recent articles have explored the effects of military deployment on U.S. service members' mental health outcomes. Although increased attention has also begun to focus on the effects of deployment on military families, providing a conceptualization for the mechanisms of this process can help organize existing information and inform future efforts. In this article we seek to draw greater attention to the effects of deployment on service members and to provide an overview of recent literature on the impact of deployment on service members and military families. A further goal is then to provide one conceptual perspective—a model of family stability—that may help inform our understanding of the impact of military deployment on families. Beyond informing research, the issues presented in this article have far-reaching consequences not only for American military families and their current mental health and primary care providers but also for practitioners in the broader mental health community who will be increasingly called upon to provide services to this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shock without awe.

In January 2011, the American Psychologist ran a special issue on “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness,” edited by Martin Seligman and Michael Matthews. Thirteen articles described a collaborative effort by the U.S. Army and positive psychologists to “improve our force’s resilience” (Casey, 2011, p. 1). If successful, one assumes, these efforts will make military engagements shorter (though not less frequent) and more victorious, while reducing human suffering on all sides. How can one object? Yet, the contributors themselves anticipated criticism. To justify their engagement with the military, they argued that psychological science has been relevant throughout its history, most notably during the world wars (Seligman & Fowler, 2011). They further noted that although the deployment of psychology may seem rushed, the exigency of the situation in the field demands it. Like other groups in conflict, the Army has an interest in standardizing the behavior of its members. To achieve this, the Army can threaten and deliver punishment. From the group’s perspective, this interest is necessary and legitimate. It is, in the author's view, not legitimate for psychologists to obfuscate the conflict of interest between Army and soldier and to act as though they care, above all, about the well-being of the soldier. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

La CLAve to increase psychosis literacy of Spanish-speaking community residents and family caregivers.

The authors developed and tested a 35-min psychoeducational program with the goal of increasing Spanish-speaking persons’ literacy of psychosis. The program uses popular cultural icons derived from music, art, and videos, as well as a mnemonic device—La CLAve (The Clue)—to increase (a) knowledge of psychosis, (b) efficacy beliefs that one can identify psychosis in others, (c) attributions to mental illness, and (d) professional help-seeking. Assessments were conducted before and after administering the program to both community residents (n = 57) and family caregivers of persons with schizophrenia (n = 38). For community residents, the authors observed increases across the 4 domains of symptom knowledge, efficacy beliefs, illness attributions, and recommended help-seeking. For caregivers, increases were observed in symptom knowledge and efficacy beliefs. La CLAve is a conceptually informed psychoeducational tool with a developing empirical base aimed at helping Spanish-speaking Latinos with serious mental illness obtain care in a timely manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bringing culture to the forefront: Formulating diagnostic impressions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people at times of medical crisis.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing people exist in a culture quite different from the hearing world—it is a culture that is unique to the Deaf community. Deaf culture is different from the culture of the hearing world, but it is even more different than the culture of the medical community. A discussion of cultural differences and case examples are used to illustrate the profound shift in meaning that happens when culture is brought to the forefront and behavior is viewed from multiple centers. Basic concepts of medical crisis counseling are useful in framing culturally appropriate interventions for members of the Deaf community who are drawn into the health care system in medical crisis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology specialist training in the Army.

In recent years, the problem of training the psychological worker who does not hold the doctorate has received considerable attention in the pages of the American Psychologist (3, 5). Owing to a shortage of clinicians with the PhD, the Army has utilized specialists, possessing limited but useful technical skills in clinical psychology, who work under the supervision of fully qualified psychologists. This paper is a report on the program conducted by the Army to train these specialists. It is offered as a contribution to the general discussion of subprofessional training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural roadmap: Developing cultural learning strategies during internship.

Cultural training can be a difficult topic to address during the internship year and can be defined or approached in many different ways. This article describes a program designed to provide cultural training focused on increasing cultural awareness for psychology interns. The training program outlined is based in part on anthropological research methods and teaches interns a method for learning about different cultures. Interns focus on one cultural group, and go through a flexible sequence of several steps from gathering general information, meeting with community representatives, meeting specific groups of community members, to finally developing a project using the information learned to serve the group studied. An overview of the program is provided, with a recent project example to highlight the process. Reactions from interns have generally been positive. Examples are discussed of how the project has evolved to reflect intern and staff experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)