Effect Of Brief Mindfulness Meditation On Stress Levels In Military Personnel

Background and Objective:As a particular group,soldiers are often in an exceptional environment and special events,and the stress factors they face are more complex than the general population.With the continuous advancement of the modernization of the PLA,it has become the regular practice for the PLA to carry out exercises,military assessments,competitions,field training and other significant tasks.Both military activities and daily military life tend to cause soldiers to be in a state of high stress.The high-stress state may harm soldiers’physical and mental health,thus affecting the completion of military missions and even leading to non-combat troop reduction,affecting the overall combat effectiveness of the troops.In the face of the rapid,intense and highly intelligent future battlefield,soldiers’psychological quality has become an essential factor affecting the war’s outcome.Improving the battlefield psychological adaptability and anti-stress ability of soldiers has become an urgent need to win the modern war.As an effective psychological intervention,Brief mindfulness meditation(BMM)has been a broad concern in recent years.Studies have shown that brief mindfulness meditation intervention significantly affects stress management,emotional regulation,and mental health.Compared with classical mindfulness meditation training,Brief mindfulness meditation has the advantage of simple operation,free from the restrictions of sites,teachers and other factors,which is very suitable for promotion and application in the military group.However,brief mindfulness meditation has rarely been used in the military,and there are even fewer empirical studies on the intervention of this group.Therefore,this study explores the intervention effect of brief mindfulness meditation on the stress level of soldiers to provide an experimental basis for applying and promoting this efficient and convenient intervention means in the army.Based on this,this study will take military personnel as the research object to explore the risk factors of stress levels and related psychological symptoms.The intervention effect of brief mindfulness meditation training combined with psychological characteristics on soldiers’stress levels was studied,providing an experimental basis for applying and promoting this efficient and convenient intervention in the army.Methods:There are two parts to this study.Part one:A Cross-sectional Survey of Stress,Anxiety and Depression in Military Personnel.A total of 1381 soldiers were recruited with the same attributes to complete the following questionnaires:Chinese 14-item Perceived Stress Scale(PSS-14),Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS)and Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS).In order to provide a theoretical basis for follow-up psychological intervention,soldiers’stress,anxiety and depression levels and characteristics were investigated in this part.Part two:Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Stress Levels in Military Personnel.Eighty participants were randomly selected from the first part and divided into BMM and Control groups.Afterward,BMM and meaningless audio intervention were conducted for 15 minutes daily for two weeks.Stress levels and related psychological indicators(mindfulness,emotional state and subjective sleep quality)were measured before and after the intervention.The leading indicators of stress levels included dynamic Heart rate variability(HRV)data,salivary cortisol data and PSS-14.Three times dynamic HRV data were collected in the experiment.The resting state was the T0 value,the data during the first intervention was the T1 value,and the data during the last intervention was the T2 value.Data from other indicators were collected twice before and after the intervention.Results:Experiment One:A Cross-sectional Survey of Stress,Anxiety and Depression in Military Personnel1.Among the military personnel who participated in the survey,28.89%had a high or above stress level,81.61%had anxiety symptoms,and 3.26%had symptoms of depression.2.The scores of stress(t=-4.78,d=-0.36,p<0.001),anxiety(t=-4.72,d=-0.36,p<0.001)and depression scales(t=-6.53,d=-0.50,p<0.001)were significantly higher in31～50 years old than in 18～30 years old.In the marital status group,the scores of stress(t=-3.57,d=-0.23,p<0.001),anxiety(t=-2.50,d=-0.16,p=0.013<0.05)and depression scales(t=-3.95,d=-0.25,p<0.001)of married soldiers were significantly higher than those of unmarried soldiers.The scores of stress(t=6.64,d=0.44,p<0.001),anxiety(t=3.93,d=0.26,p<0.001)and depression scales(t=5.21,d=0.34,p<0.001)of officers were significantly higher than those of soldiers.3.The positive data analysis of the scale showed that the positive detection rate of stress(χ~2=5.01,φ=0.12,p=0.025<0.05),the positive detection rate of anxiety(χ~2=17.52,φ=0.23,p<0.001),and the positive detection rate of depression(χ~2=32.82,φ=0.31,p<0.001)were significantly higher than those aged 18～30.Among the marital status groups,the positive rates of anxiety(χ~2=6.81,φ=0.14,p=0.009<0.05)and depression(χ~2=19.51,φ=0.24,p<0.001)were significantly higher in married officers than in unmarried officers.In the person category group,the positive detection rates of stress(χ~2=22.03,φ=0.26,p<0.001),anxiety(χ~2=18.00,φ=0.23,p<0.001)and depression(χ~2=10.44,φ=0.18,p=0.001<0.05)were significantly higher than those of soldiers.4.Stress levels are associated with depression and anxiety levels.The anxiety scores(t=10.97,d=0.65,p<0.001)and depression scores(t=9.94,d=0.59,p<0.001)of military personnel with high-stress levels were significantly higher.The positive detection rate of anxiety(χ~2=62.01,φ=0.43,p<0.001)and depression(χ~2=4.02,φ=0.11,p=0.045<0.05)were also significantly higher.5.The personnel category was the risk factor for stress.Military officers(OR[95%CI]=0.54[0.40,0.72],p<0.001)had a higher risk of stress symptoms;age and person category are risk factors for anxiety,military personnel(OR[95%CI]=2.92[1.30,6.54],p=0.009<0.05)and military officers(OR[95%CI]=0.47[0.30,0.73],p=0.001<0.01)over 31 years of age had a higher risk of developing symptoms of anxiety.Length of service was the influencing factor of depression level.The soldiers with more than ten years of service(10～15:OR[95%CI]=3.44[1.11,10.67],p=0.032<0.05;≥15:OR[95%CI]=6.48[1.70,24.74],p=0.006<0.05)had a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms.Experiment Two:Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Stress Levels in Military Personnel1.HRV level:The results of repeated measurement variance analysis showed that the interaction between time and group was significant in LF/HF(time×group:F=5.21,η_р~2=0.13,p=0.008<0.05).Simple effect analysis showed that T0 values of the BMM group were significantly different from T1(p=0.001<0.05)and T2(p<0.001)data.There was no significant difference between the three measurements in the control group(T0 and T1:p=0.505;T0 value and T2:p=0.494;T2 and T2:p=0.829).After the first BMM intervention,the LF/HF in the BMM group decreased significantly.After two weeks of intervention,the LF/HF decreased significantly compared with the baseline value.2.Salivary cortisol level:Univariate covariance analysis showed that after adjusting the pretest salivary cortisol concentration,the salivary cortisol concentration in the posttest was significantly different between the two groups(F=20.18,η_р~2=0.22,p<0.001).After two weeks of intervention,salivary cortisol concentration in the BMM group was significantly lower than that in the control group.3.Subjective stress level:The PSS-14 score was significantly decreased in the BMM group(t=6.20,d=1.44,p<0.001),and the change of the difference before and after the intervention was significantly higher than that in the control group(t=-4.33,d=-1.00,p<0.001).After two weeks of BMM intervention,PSS-14 scores in the BMM group decreased significantly compared with the control group.4.Mindfulness level:Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire(FFMQ)results showed that the increase of the“Describing”dimension(t=2.34,d=0.54,p=0.022<0.05)and“Acting with awareness”dimension(t=2.55,d=0.59,p=0.013<0.05)scores in the BMM group were significantly higher than that in the control group.5.Emotional states:In the“Positive”dimension of the Positive and Negative Assessment Scale(PANAS),the post-test score of the BMM group increased significantly(t=-5.59,d=-1.29,p<0.001),while the control group had no significant difference(p=0.110).The difference t-test results showed that the change amount of the BMM group’s score increased was significantly higher than that of the control group’s score decreased(t=5.49,d=1.27,p<0.001),that is,the improvement of the“Positive”dimension in the BMM group was better than that in the control group.In the“Negative”dimension,the score of the intervention group was significantly decreased(t=2.80,d=0.65,p=0.008<0.05),while the control group had no significant difference(p=0.740).The difference between the two groups was significant(t=-2.12,d=-0.49,p=0.038<0.05),that is,after two weeks of BMM training,the“Negative”dimension of the BMM group was significantly reduced than that of the control group.6.Sleep status:In Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI),the total score of the post-test was significantly lower than that of the pre-test(t=4.49,d=1.04,p<0.001)in the BMM group,but the difference was not significant in the control group(p=0.386).The difference between the pre and post-test of the two groups was significant(t=-3.02,d=-0.70,p=0.003<0.05),that is,the improvement of sleep quality in the intervention group was better than that in the control group after two weeks of BMM training.Conclusion:1.The military personnel surveyed had higher levels of stress and anxiety but lower levels of depression.2.A single 15-minute intervention of BMM can significantly improve the HRV level of military personnel.3.After two weeks of BMM intervention,stress levels and associated psychological symptoms were improved in military personnel.