Advancing Research on Mechanisms of Resilience (ARMOR): Prospective Longitudinal Study of Adaptation in New Military Recruits

Background: Resilience is defined as the capacity to adapt successfully through multiple processes in response to adverse events. While explanatory models are still in their infancy, theoretical and empirical evidence suggest that self-regulatory processes may underlie resilient functioning. This proposal will develop (Phase 1, Year 1) and then implement (Phase 2, Years 2-5) a study of 1,200 National Guard recruits in the first two years of their enlistment in order to identify patterns and processes of adaptive (resilient) functioning in the face of Basic Combat Training (BCT) and other adverse events. Aims: The aims for Phase 1 are focused on planning and preparing for a longitudinal study of resilience in National Guard recruits and include: 1) Use prior datasets to develop statistical algorithms for selecting ilot baseline data collection procedures to determine feasibility of enrollment and response rate targets for longitudinal study, 3) Develop and refine contextualized measures of National Guard training stressor exposure, and 4) Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of neurobehavioral markers of resilience processes. During Phase 2, a comprehensive model of resilience will be investigated using a four-year, mixed-method, longitudinal study to participants with high and low probabilities of resilience, 2) P 1) Characterize latent trajectories of adjustment among new military recruits beginning prior to BCT over two years, 2) Identify promotive and protective predictors of resilient functioning in National Guard soldiers, and 3) Investigate neurobehavioral pathways of self-regulation predictive of resilience trajectories in new military recruits. Procedures and Analyses: In Phase 1, prediction algorithms will be established using analysis of datasets gathered in prior National Guard studies. The measurement of BCT stressors, and feasibility of Phase 2 recruitment plans, will involve online surveys of 100 National Guard recruits before, during and immediately after BCT. The feasibility and acceptability of neurobiological measures through imaging and laboratory tasks piloting procedures will be assessed with 10 recruits undergoing procedures before and after BCT. In Phase 2, on-line self-reports of symptoms (depression, anxiety, alcohol or drug use), adaptive social functioning, and promotive, protective, and risk factors will be collected before and at 4 time points after BCT with 1200 National Guard recruits. Growth mixture modeling will establish resilient and non-resilient trajectories of adaptive functioning. Aim 2 will use predictive modeling of trajectories using predictors collected during the baseline and subsequent time points. In Aim 3, 120 recruits will complete laboratory tasks (Farmer's task, go/no-go task, dot probe task, performance monitoring task) before and after BCT while undergoing MRI or EEG scans. Analyses will determine if these tasks can discriminate between recruits in the resilient vs. non- resilient trajectories of functioning established in Aim 1.