Strengthening Health and Improving Emotional Defenses (SHIELD)

The psychological stress experienced by Marines has a profound impact on health and performance that reaches beyond the individual; it affects job performance, interactions with family and peers, and may lead to increased prevalence of substance abuse and misconduct. The DoD has devoted substantial resources to developing stress prevention and resilience programs to combat the effects of stress; however, there is limited evidence to justify the cost and scope of current programs. To maximize effectiveness, the Marine Corps needs low-cost, evidence-based training options that integrate effectively with existing wellness programs. In the Phase I effort, we successfully designed and demonstrated a portable psychological flexibility program for Strengthening Health and Improving Emotional Defenses (SHIELD). SHIELD implements a comprehensive approach based on the latest evidence-based strategies to train Marines to develop psychological flexibility and promote healthy responses to adverse and stressful events. Based on our Phase I success, we recommend a Phase II effort to refine and expand training content, increase the utility of SHIELD’s wearable sensor technologies, refine and expand the integrated behavioral logging, and experimentally evaluate the full-scope SHIELD system.