2014/05/16 by Douglas C. Johnson, Nathaniel J. Thom, Elizabeth A. Stanley +8 · 224 citations
Psychology · #Clinical psychology #Computer science #Geography #Mindfulness #Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions #Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research #Psychology #Resilience (materials science) #Software deployment #Sport Psychology and Performance #Training (meteorology)
paper · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13040502
published in American Journal of Psychiatry 171(8), 844-853 (American Psychiatric Association)
openalex publication_date 2014/05/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
OBJECTIVE: Military deployment can have profound effects on physical and mental health. Few studies have examined whether interventions prior to deployment can improve mechanisms underlying resilience. Mindfulness-based techniques have been shown to aid recovery from stress and may affect brain-behavior relationships prior to deployment. The authors examined the effect of mindfulness training on resilience mechanisms in active-duty Marines preparing for deployment. METHOD: Eight Marine infantry platoons (N=281) were randomly selected. Four platoons were assigned to receive mindfulness training (N=147) and four were assigned to a training-as-usual control condition (N=134). Platoons were assessed at baseline, 8 weeks after baseline, and during and after a stressful combat training session approximately 9 weeks after baseline. The mindfulness training condition was delivered in the form of 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT), a program comprising 20 hours of classroom instruction plus daily homework exercises. MMFT emphasizes interoceptive awareness, attentional control, and tolerance of present-moment experiences. The main outcome measures were heart rate, breathing rate, plasma neuropeptide Y concentration, score on the Response to Stressful Experiences Scale, and brain activation as measured by functional MRI. RESULTS: Marines who received MMFT showed greater reactivity (heart rate [d=0.43]) and enhanced recovery (heart rate [d=0.67], breathing rate [d=0.93]) after stressful training; lower plasma neuropeptide Y concentration after stressful training (d=0.38); and attenuated blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal in the right insula and anterior cingulate. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that mechanisms related to stress recovery can be modified in healthy individuals prior to stress exposure, with important implications for evidence-based mental health research and treatment.