Modifying resilience mechanisms in at-risk individuals: a controlled study of mindfulness training in Marines preparing for deployment
Open accessAbstract
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.
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Among military veterans, mindfulness-based interventions have shown efficacy in targeting various aspects of psychological health, including PTSD, depression, and quality of life.
“For example, among military veterans, mindfulness-based interventions have shown efficacy in targeting various aspects of psychological health, including PTSD, depression, and quality of life [[17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25]].”
From Mindful attention training workshop for firefighters: Design and methodology of a pilot randomized clinical trial (2022) · cites this paper as [17]
The Abstract Results and Discussion report that mindfulness training improved recovery from stress in active-duty Marines preparing for deployment. They do not establish efficacy among veterans or report improvements in PTSD, depression, or quality of life; the Discussion describes effects in clinical populations as speculative. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMindfulness-based interventions, administered to military service members prior to combat stress training, have shown preliminary efficacy in reducing biomarkers of stress, compared to as-usual training.
“Further, mindfulness-based interventions, administered to military service members prior to combat stress training, have shown preliminary efficacy in reducing biomarkers of stress, compared to as-usual training [17].”
From Mindful attention training workshop for firefighters: Design and methodology of a pilot randomized clinical trial (2022) · cites this paper as [17]
The Method describes mindfulness training before a stressful combat-training session, with a training-as-usual control group. The Results > Biomarkers section reports lower post-training plasma neuropeptide Y in the mindfulness group, but does not report reductions in multiple stress biomarkers; the claim’s plural wording overstates that finding. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMindfulness-based interventions are feasible and lead to improved health outcomes among several high-stress populations, such as military personnel, physicians, firefighters, and inner-city teachers.
“MBIs have been shown to be feasible and to lead to improved health outcomes among several high-stress populations, such as military personnel [32, 33], physicians [34, 35], firefighters [36], and inner-city teachers [37].”
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References 39 · Cited by 227
- Authors
- Johnson, D. C., Thom, N. J., Stanley, E. A., Haase, L., Simmons, A. N., Shih, P.-A. B., Thompson, W. K., Potterat, E. G., Minor, T. R., & Paulus, M. P.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Johnson, Douglas C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 2014-08
- Volume
- 171
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 844-853
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- PMC
- PMC4458258
- OpenAlex
- W2100835978
- Cited by
- 227
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 22.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Defense
- University of California, San Diego
- Office of Naval Research
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K01DK087813)
- Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- mindfulness training, resilience, military deployment, Marines, combat stress, stress recovery, heart rate reactivity, neuropeptide Y, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, interoceptive awareness, attentional control
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Heart Rate, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Military Personnel, Neuropeptide Y, Respiration, Stress, Psychological, Resilience, Psychological, Young Adult, Functional Neuroimaging, Mindfulness
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