Shevtsov A.M., Yusupov M.G. Preventing distress among combatants through training in mental regulation skills

The article is devoted to studying the effectiveness of training law enforcement officers in the skills of managing mental states and mental processes in difficult conditions from the point of view of reducing the level of distress. The study was structured according to an experimental design with three diagnostic sections: upon admission to training, before deployment, and after the trip. The study involved 96 police officers, divided into control (49 people) and experimental (47 people) samples. Diagnosis was carried out using the following methods: “Diagnostics of situational and personal anxiety” (Ch.D. Spielberger, V.L. Khanin), “Diagnostics of emotional burnout” (V.V. Boyko) and “Methodology for assessing adaptive abilities” (I.V. Solovyov). The intervention for the experimental group consisted of supplementing standard psychological preparation for activities in dangerous conditions with game exercises to develop skills for self-management of mental state, as well as verbal communication under conditions of time pressure and predicting the actions of an opponent. Statistical processing was carried out using the SPSS 23.0 package; it included the calculation of descriptive statistics (in particular, means) and correlation analysis, as well as the calculation of Cohen's d in order to assess the effect of the experimental intervention. Analysis of average values showed differences in the dynamics of the studied indicators in the control and experimental groups. A comparison of correlation structures showed that in the experimental group, unlike the control group, the symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) did not arise. The results obtained allow us to conclude that extended psychological training has a positive impact on the mental stability of military personnel to professional stress in combat conditions.

Key words: professional stress, distress, self-management of mental state, prevention, training

For citation: Shevtsov, A.M., Yusupov, M.G. (2024). Preventing distress among combatants through training in mental regulation skills. New Psychological Research, No. 2, 132–159. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2024_04_02_07

Acknowledgement

The study was carried out with financial support from the Russian Science Foundation within the framework of scientific project No. 23-18-00232, https://rscf.ru/project/23-18-00232