Seafarer's mental health is vital for a well-functioning organisation. Neglecting mental health status on board could be extremely costly for both the crew affected as well as the company. The present article outlines an extensive programme implemented in the Royal Norwegian Navy for personnel deployed in international operations. The challenges involved in international operations bare similarities to onboard personnel in civilian maritime operations. The program utilised by the Royal Norwegian Navy is extensive and not immediately applicable to civilian maritime companies. However, elements of this program could be used with limited resources. Questionnaire based screening, before, during and at the end of a contract period could result in early detections of mental health problems and increased retaining of personnel. This should be done by health professionals. Early targeting of at risk personnel could prevent serious costs for the individual as well as the company.

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Introduction Minor mental health problems among service members deployed in combat areas are relatively common, but social support is a protective factor. With the advent of digital communication, as well as more frequent family separations, a stable family support system may be more important than before. In this exploratory study, we aimed to test the relationship between perceived family support and the development of minor psychiatric symptoms during a 4-month naval counter piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. Materials and Methods We measured minor mental health problems with the general health questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12) and family support at three intervals, 3 weeks before deployment, 2 months into the mission, and at the end of deployment. We used mixed multilevel regression analysis to analyze the main effects of family support and time, as well as their interaction. All analyses were controlled for military rank. Results We found that minor psychiatric symptoms increased at both midway (B = 0.51, P < 0.05) and toward the end of the mission (B = 0.72, P < 0.01). The results also showed that receiving more family support is associated with fewer psychiatric symptoms (B = −0.87, P < 0.01). Family support also moderated the development of symptoms toward the end of the mission (B = −0.73, P < 0.01). The buffering effect was such that service members with a high degree of family support experienced no increase in minor psychiatric symptoms during the deployment. Conclusions The results indicate that naval deployment is associated with a small increase in minor mental health problems and that having a high degree of family support buffers this effect. Efforts to increase support among military families may positively influence the wellbeing of naval sailors during combat missions.

The Big Five theory suggests that five components in teamwork are essential for team effectiveness in stressful environments. Furthermore, three coordinating mechanisms are claimed to be decisive to upholding and informing vital teamwork processes. Although much research has been conducted into the Big Five theory and its components, to the best of our knowledge, no study has yet been made of the relative importance of the three mechanisms and their impact on team effectiveness. Also, only a few studies have tried to investigate whether the components and the coordinating mechanisms are trainable. This study aims to make a theoretical contribution to the part of the theory focusing on the coordinating mechanisms. Secondly, it investigates whether training can improve team performance. Working in teams of two, 166 police officers participated in a simulated operational scenario. Correlational analyses indicated that all Big Five teamwork behaviors and coordinating mechanisms relate to external ratings of team performance. Only the mechanisms of Closed Loop Communication (CLC) and Shared Mental Model (SMM) predicted performance indicators, with SMM predicting above and beyond the effect of CLC. No effect of the training program was found. The study provides new evidence in a police situation that the most important coordinating mechanism of the Big Five theory is that of shared mental models, which in turn has consequences for the type of training needed.