US soldiers and the role of leadership: COVID-19, mental health, and adherence to public health guidelines

Abstract

Background Previous studies have documented the impact of domain-specific leadership behaviors on targeted health outcomes in employees. The goal of the present study was to determine the association between specific leadership behaviors addressing COVID-19 and US soldiers’ mental health and adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines. Methods An electronic, anonymous survey was administered to US Army soldiers across three major commands (N = 7,829) from December 2020 to January 2021. The primary predictor of interest was soldiers’ ratings of their immediate supervisors’ behaviors related to COVID-19. The outcomes were soldiers’ mental health (i.e., depression and generalized anxiety) and adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines. Covariates were rank, gender, ratings of immediate supervisors’ general leadership, level of COVID-19 concerns, and COVID-19 status (e.g., tested positive, became seriously ill). Logistic regressions were used to model the unique association of COVID-19 leadership behaviors with outcomes after adjusting for covariates. Results High levels of COVID-19 leadership behaviors were associated with lesser likelihood of soldiers’ screening positive for depression (AOR = 0.46; 95% CI [0.39, 0.54]) and anxiety (AOR = 0.54; 95% CI [0.45, 0.64]), and greater likelihood of frequent adherence to preventive health guidelines (AORs = 1.58; 95% CI [1.39, 1.80] to 2.50; 95% CI [2.01, 3.11]). Conclusion Higher levels of COVID-19 leadership behaviors may support soldiers’ mental health and encourage their adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines. Given the link between these leader behaviors and soldier adaptation to the pandemic over and above general leadership, training for supervisors should focus on targeting specific health-promoting behaviors. Results can inform leader training for the military and other high-risk occupations.

Deployment-related quarantining—a risk or resilience factor for German military service members? A prospective analysis during the third–fifth waves of COVID-19

“…In addition, this study showed that specific quarantine-related risk and resilience factors are related to mental health in the short and long term, in particular, “clear communication of the quarantine protocol” and “perceived stigma.” The positive message is that one main predictor can be easily addressed: the clear communication of the quarantine protocol, including the purpose and the rules of quarantining. While health-promoting leadership is not the over-arching main predictor or moderator of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic as in a survey of 7,829 US Army personnel ( 27 ), it is also positively related to mental health as it is to the predictive resilience factors of perceived social support, perceived unit cohesion, and clear communication of the quarantine protocol (see Table in Supplementary material 5 ). While directly influencing the more general resilience factors of perceived social support and perceived unit cohesion might be difficult, health-promoting leadership, involving clearly communicated information and addressing the practicalities of quarantining, is recommended as one important entry point to facilitate the health protective factors of perceived unit cohesion and perceived social support and mental health.…”

“…As for specific military resilience factors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the few existent studies only based on US military service personnel showed that perceived unit cohesion, supportive leadership, and health-promoting leadership lessened the risk for reporting PTSD and anger, and clinically significant anxiety and depression ( 22 , 24 , 27 ), regardless of the personnel’s active response to the pandemic ( 22 ). Coping style and regulatory focus were identified as individual resilience factors for Chinese military officers during the COVID-19 pandemic ( 28 ).…”

“…As for social protective factors , we are interested in different general and military-specific protective factors that have been found to be relevant in pre- and peri-pandemic studies on mental health ( 26 , 51 , 54 , 55 ): general perceived social support (FSozu) and military-specific social support, including health-promoting leadership ( 27 , 35 ), perceived unit cohesion ( 35 , 56 , 57 ), and quarantine conducive social norms of relevant others, here family and fellow soldiers ( 58 ).…”

Leadership in moral awareness: Initial evidence from U.S. Army soldiers returning from deployment.

“…mental health (Lopez et al, 2019). Moreover, studies have identified associations between specific leadership behaviors that target key domains and better outcomes, over and above general leadership skills (Adler et al, 2014(Adler et al, , 2022Gunia et al, 2015).…”

“…Within the U.S. Army, leaders may have a critical role to play in preventing moral injury, given that soldiers’ perceptions of their leader’s general effectiveness are known to be associated with better mental health (Lopez et al, 2019). Moreover, studies have identified associations between specific leadership behaviors that target key domains and better outcomes, over and above general leadership skills (Adler et al, 2014, 2022; Gunia et al, 2015).…”