A General Qualitative Study on Army Leadership, Mental Health Resiliency, and Psychological Empowerment

The researcher sought to bridge a gap in the current military mental health and leadership literature utilizing a social constructivist paradigm, examining Army leadership. The researcher explored how Army leaders build mentally resilient and psychologically-empowered soldiers in order to reduce suicide rates among Army personnel. By focusing on the importance of Army leadership, mental health resiliency, and psychological empowerment, the researcher sought to answer the following questions: (1a) how are Army leaders promoting mental health resiliency among Army personnel, (1b) how are Army leaders promoting psychological empowerment among Army personnel, and (1c) what approaches/tactics are employed by Army leaders to develop more mentally resilient soldiers? Guided by these specific questions, the experiences of former Army personnel were examined. Semi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with six former Army personnel who served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan between 2003-2014. Generated data was analyzed according to Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) procedures. Three superordinate themes where extrapolated from the interview transcripts: (i) Leaders Promoting/Supporting Mental Health Resiliency with the Main Priority to Reduce the Cases of PTSD, TBI, and Suicides - Different Trainings Available (ii) No Psychological Empowerment Support Experienced, and (iii) Mental Health Stigma in the U.S. Army with the Suggestion for Leaders to Implement Stricter Mental Health Training. Findings from this study, in addition to existing literature on Army leadership and military mental health, indicated that Army leadership plays a pivotal role in the prevention of military suicide. The researcher recommends that greater leadership engagement, purposive involvement, support, and surveillance in a stigma-free environment is critical to the increase of soldier mental health resiliency and suicide prevention.