Effectiveness of a Coping Flexibility Training for Military Students

TNO has developed a training to improve coping flexibility for military students. This training consists of five modules (each ½ to 1 day) divided over a period of circa 6 months. These were embedded in their regular training program. The instructors followed an intensive train-the-trainer to be able to give the training. The modules are mainly practical lessons in which students apply the acquired skills. The main goal of this training is to improve the students’ arsenal of strategies to cope with stressful situations. An experimental study has been performed to investigate the effectiveness of this training. The experimental group (N=114) followed the coping flexibility training. The control group (N=70) followed the usual training program. Both groups did the same pre-test and a posttest. Various performance measures were used. A snapshot that gives an indication of the students’ set of coping strategies was administered. Vignettes were applied to measure whether students can switch between coping strategies suitable for various situations. An ‘exam’ was done to measure what the students have learned. In addition, some aspects of the learning process itself were measured in order to get insight into the ‘blackbox of learning’: why the training is (not) effective. These learning features include self-efficacy, motivation, value, engagement, and collaboration. Finally, qualitative data were gathered from observations of the training and interviews with instructors. Positive results were found for the experimental group. This paper presents the main characteristics of the training, methodology, and both quantitative and qualitative results of the effectiveness study.