@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2383-3483    Journal of Police Medicine 2018;7(4):147-152

Background
... [1-8]. Stressful nature of military environments as well as easy access to weapons in such environments can increase aggression or suicidal thoughts in the soldiers.
Previous Studies
… [9-14]. It has been shown that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy can significantly reduce depression and suicidal thoughts in patients [15]. .. [16]. It has been indicated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy trainings can increase quality of life and reduce depression through an increase in people's awareness via techniques such as training to focus on breathing and body and on the present situation [17]. … [18] ... Mindfulness is a powerful predictor of psychological well-being, and increasing mental awareness can increase psychological well-being [19]. … [20]. The results of other studies on the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being show that the increased mindfulness is associated with increased psychological well-being [21]. ... [22, 23]. Remarkable evidences have obtained to support the impact of the mindfulness therapies on people with aggressive behavior [24].
Aim(s)
This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on suicidal thoughts and aggression in duty soldiers of the Malek-e-Ashtar Arak Garrison Training Course.
Research type
This research is an experimental study with pre-test-post-test design using control group.
Research society, place and time
The statistical population of this study was all duty soldiers of the Malek-e-Ashtar Arak Garrison Training Course in 2016.
Sampling method and number
The Morgan & Krejcie (1970) was used to determine the sample size. Accordingly, the acceptable sample size was 108 subjects, so that 108 soldiers were selected through cluster sampling method.
Used devices&materials
First the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) was distributed among 108 soldiers, of whom 55 soldiers had a standard deviation more than the mean suicidal thoughts in the pre-test. The mean and standard deviation of suicidal thoughts were 30.65 and 3.81, respectively; therefore, the subjects whose suicidal thoughts were higher than 34.46 were allowed to enroll the study. Of the subjects, 55 soldiers had this inclusion criterion. After that, 40 of them were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. Gall et al. believe that at least 30 samples in both the experimental and control groups are needed for validity and generalizability of an experimental study [25]. The inclusion criteria were the samples aged at least 18 years, at least ability to read (third year of the secondary school), a standard deviation more than the mean suicidal thoughts in the pre-test, a regular attendance the at the sessions, no use of psychiatric medication through the therapy (based on the participants report), no history of psychotherapy and taking medication at least through the last 6 months (if any), and the consent to attend the sessions. Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS): This is a 19-item self-assessment tool to indicate and measure intensity of the attitudes, behaviors, and planning to commit suicide through the last week. It assesses the items such as death wish, active and inactive suicidal ideation, the length and frequency of suicidal thoughts, self-control, inhibitors, and willingness of a person to commit suicide. The questionnaire has 5 screening questions. The zero score indicates "none", 1 means "somewhat", and 2 indicates "high." The validity and reliability of this questionnaire have been approved. In addition, it has been shown that its reliability using Cronbach's alpha is 0.87-0.97 and is 0.54 using the test-retest method [8]. Therefore, the internal validity, the validity of the test-retest and the simultaneous validity of this scale are acceptable. Aggression Questionnaire: This test was developed by Buss & Perry (1992). This 29-item questionnaire measures four aspects of aggression, including physical, verbal, anger and hostility. The questionnaire also measures the amount of overall aggression. The results of psychometric analysis of Buss and Perry showed that this questionnaire has a high internal consistency (0.89). Moreover, the correlation of its subscales with each other and with the whole scale varies from 0.25 to 0.45, which indicates the appropriate validity of this tool [26]. Furthermore, the high correlation of the items with total score of the questionnaire, poor correlation of the items with each other and alpha coefficient indicate the adequacy and effectiveness of this questionnaire for researchers, experts and psychologists in Iran [27]. In this study, independent variable was MBSR program training that was performed to the MBSR group [8] in 8 one-hour sessions (Table 1). This program has been used by many researchers in Iran and its effectiveness has been evaluated for Iranian society [28-30]. Covariance analysis was used for analysis of data using SPSS 19.
Findings by Text
The sample consisted of 40 soldiers, of whom 20 subjects assigned to the experimental group and 20 subjects assigned to the control group. Of these, 40% had a below diploma degree, whereas 60% had a diploma. There was a significant correlation between suicidal thoughts in pre-test and post-test (p<0.011, f<0.171). By moderating pre-test scores, MBSR had a significant effect of suicidal ideation of soldiers in post-test. There was a significant correlation between aggression score in pre-test and post-test (p<011, f=464.429). By moderating pretest scores, MBSR had a significant effect on aggression of soldiers in post-test.
Main comparison to the similar studies
Due to the lack of research on the effect of mindfulness-based therapies on suicidal thoughts of duty soldiers, it can be said that the findings of the present study are consistent with the findings of previous studies indicating mindfulness-based suicidal thoughts can affect veterans [31]. In addition, the results of this study confirm the previous findings that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy significantly reduces suicidal thoughts [23]. ... [32]. In Iran, the significant effect of mindfulness on reducing suicidal thoughts and increasing the desire to live and survive in depressed patients has been reported, which is consistent with the results of the present study [15, 33]. …[34]. The results of the covariance analysis showed that by moderating the scores of pre-test, the MBSR had a significant effect on aggression of the soldiers in the post-test, which confirms the findings of previous studies who have shown that mindfulness-based therapies affect people with behavioral problems such as aggression [24] .... [35]. In Iran, it has also demonstrated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is effective in reducing verbal and physical aggression [36]. Therefore, it can be said that the present research is consistent with the findings of these studies. … [37, 38].
Suggestions
MBSR program training and other psychological trainings are suggested for NAJA soldiers in addition to other military and ideological trainings, so that the soldiers can pass their military service without psychological disorders.
Limitations
The results should be cautiously generalized due to the following limitations: 1) only one military garrison was used, 2) Response bias while answering the questionnaires, 3) the lack of control of variables that can affect the results.
Conclusions
MBSR program is effective in decreasing suicidal thoughts and aggression of soldiers in the duty soldiers of the Malekht-e-Ashtar Arak Garrison. This program can be used to reduce the psychological problems of soldiers.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Iran's Armed Forces Elites Foundation and the Human Resources deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who helped to perform the study.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
None declared.
Funding Sources
This study was entirely sponsored by the authors and no financial support was received.

TABLES and CHARTS

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