Difficulties With Emotion Regulation in the Contemporary U.S. Armed Forces: Structural Contributors and Potential Solutions

The ability to regulate negative emotions is especially necessary for service members in the contemporary U.S. armed forces, since they routinely face situations that elicit negative emotions while executing their professional roles. Yet difficulties with regulating emotions, which are associated wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Armed forces and society 2021-01, Vol.47 (1), p.77-105
Main Authors: Stanley, Elizabeth A., Larsen, Kelsey L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Civil-military relations
Coping
Coping strategies
Disorders
Emotional disorders
Emotional regulation
Emotions
Military training
Negative emotions
Occupational roles
Occupational stress
Recruitment
Resilience
Selection effects
Self destructive behavior
Servicemen
Stress
Suicide
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Summary:The ability to regulate negative emotions is especially necessary for service members in the contemporary U.S. armed forces, since they routinely face situations that elicit negative emotions while executing their professional roles. Yet difficulties with regulating emotions, which are associated with stress and mood disorders, suicidality, and impairments in work performance, remain prevalent across this group. This article surveys research in five domains—recruitment and selection effects, military cultural pressures and coping strategies, training, common chronic stressors, and the contemporary operational environment—to highlight structural contributors to the heavy stress loads that U.S. service members often bear, which may contribute to their difficulty with emotion regulation (ER). It concludes with several recommendations that the military could implement to mitigate service members’ stress loads and facilitate ER. Enhancing their ER skills may offer a longterm strategy to improve their resilience and performance.
ISSN:0095-327X
1556-0848
DOI:10.1177/0095327X19848018