Psychosocial effects of the BOOT STRAP intervention in Navy recruits

• Published in: Military medicine Vol. 169; no. 10; pp. 814 - 820
• Main Authors: Williams, Arthur, Hagerty, Bonnie M, Yousha, Steven M, Horrocks, Julie, Hoyle, Kenneth S, Liu, Dawei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.10.2004
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Depression - prevention & control; Humans; Military Personnel; Military Psychiatry; Naval Medicine; Prospective Studies; Stress, Psychological - prevention & control; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0026-4075; 1930-613X
• DOI: 10.7205/MILMED.169.10.814

The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate the effects of the Boot Camp Survival Training for Navy Re cruits--A Prescription (BOOT STRAP) intervention on stress depression, situational events, interpersonal factors, and recruit training performance. Divisions of Navy recruits were randomly selected and 801 recruits participated for the 9 weeks of their training. Recruits "at risk" for depression were randomly assigned to the intervention or nonintervention groups, and the remaining recruits served as the comparison group. The at-risk recruits who received the BOOT STRAP intervention significantly increased their sense of belonging, experienced less loneliness, used more problem-solving coping skills, and decreased insecure attachment by the end of recruit training. Percentages of recruits in the study success fully completing basic training were 84% of the comparison group, 86% of the intervention group, and only 74% of the nonintervention group. Results suggest that the BOOT STRAP intervention improves recruit functioning, strengthens train ing performance, helps reduce attrition, and may have impor tant implications for stress and depression interventions.