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Mindfulness in the Dutch Military – Train Your Brain

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NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019

Part of the book series: NL ARMS ((NLARMS))

Abstract

Mindfulness training (MT) programs are, apart from curative MT programs (e.g., PTSD treatment), not yet widely offered in the military. However, military (wo)men, who are often exposed to extremely stressful situations, might benefit from the “preventive” effects of MT (e.g., stress-reduction, enhanced wellbeing, increased military resilience), and with this facilitating and deepening their reflectivity. In order to meet busy military schedules, the current research investigates the potential effects of an individual, low-dose, self-training mindfulness intervention (i.e., 10-day Mindfitness training) in a Dutch military sample (N = 173) that was subdivided into an intervention- and a waitlist-control group. By using a pre-/post-test design, the effects of our MT on mindfulness, stress, wellbeing, working memory capacity, and situational awareness were explored. Concluding from a multivariate analysis of covariance, the intervention had a negative effect on stress, and a positive effect on mindfulness, wellbeing and (self-rated) situational awareness. These results indicate the need to further explore the potential benefits of implementing individual (both extensive and low-dose) MT programs in the (Dutch) military domain.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Schok et al. 2010.

  2. 2.

    Stanley and Jha 2009.

  3. 3.

    E.g. Endsley 1988.

  4. 4.

    Good et al. 2016, p. 115.

  5. 5.

    Kaplan et al. 2017.

  6. 6.

    Jha et al. 2007.

  7. 7.

    E.g. Johnson et al. 2014.

  8. 8.

    Jha et al. 2010.

  9. 9.

    Stanley et al. 2011.

  10. 10.

    E.g. Good et al. 2016.

  11. 11.

    Hülsheger et al. 2013, 2015.

  12. 12.

    Good et al. 2016, p. 116.

  13. 13.

    Kabat-Zinn 1994, p. 4.

  14. 14.

    Bishop et al. 2004.

  15. 15.

    Good et al. 2016, p. 119.

  16. 16.

    Lutz et al. 2008.

  17. 17.

    Good et al. 2016, p. 117.

  18. 18.

    Safran and Segal 1990.

  19. 19.

    Bishop et al. 2004.

  20. 20.

    Bishop et al. 2004.

  21. 21.

    Jha et al. 2007.

  22. 22.

    E.g., Good et al. 2016.

  23. 23.

    Good et al. 2016.

  24. 24.

    Zeidan et al. 2010.

  25. 25.

    Hafenbrack et al. 2013.

  26. 26.

    E.g., Cahn and Polich 2006.

  27. 27.

    Moore et al. 2012.

  28. 28.

    Tang et al. 2010.

  29. 29.

    Stanley and Jha 2009.

  30. 30.

    Stanley and Jha 2009, p. 145.

  31. 31.

    E.g., Grossman et al. 2004.

  32. 32.

    Brown et al. 2012.

  33. 33.

    E.g., Taverniers et al. 2011; Jha et al. 2010; Stanley and Jha 2009.

  34. 34.

    Good et al. 2016, p. 199.

  35. 35.

    Awh et al. 2006.

  36. 36.

    Stanley and Jha 2009, p. 148.

  37. 37.

    E.g., Roeser et al. 2013; Jha et al. 2010; Stanley and Jha 2009; Mrazek et al. 2013.

  38. 38.

    E.g., Good et al. 2016, p. 120; Jha et al. 2014, 2017.

  39. 39.

    Jha et al. 2010.

  40. 40.

    Stanley and Jha 2009.

  41. 41.

    Endsley 1988, p. 792.

  42. 42.

    Darwin and Melling 2011.

  43. 43.

    Jha et al. 2017, p. 11.

  44. 44.

    E.g., Gutzwiller and Clegg 2013.

  45. 45.

    E.g., Brown and Ryan 2003.

  46. 46.

    E.g., Weinstein et al. 2009.

  47. 47.

    E.g., Christopher and Gilbert 2010; Brown and Ryan 2003.

  48. 48.

    Eberth and Sedlmeier 2012.

  49. 49.

    Davidson et al. 2000.

  50. 50.

    Good et al. 2016.

  51. 51.

    Bishop 2002.

  52. 52.

    Weinstein et al. 2009.

  53. 53.

    Kabat-Zinn 1990.

  54. 54.

    Jha et al. 2010.

  55. 55.

    Brown and Ryan 2003.

  56. 56.

    Schroevers et al. 2008.

  57. 57.

    Cohen and Williamson 1988.

  58. 58.

    E.g., Cohen et al. 1994.

  59. 59.

    Taylor 1990.

  60. 60.

    AD 2016.

  61. 61.

    Mrazek et al. 2013.

  62. 62.

    Redick et al. 2012, p. 164.

  63. 63.

    Conway et al. 2005.

  64. 64.

    International Wellbeing Group 2013.

  65. 65.

    E.g., Van Beuningen 2012; International Wellbeing Group 2013.

  66. 66.

    Virgili 2015.

  67. 67.

    Kenny 2016.

  68. 68.

    Hülsheger et al. 2015.

  69. 69.

    Mrazek et al. 2013.

  70. 70.

    Millisecond Software LLC 2016.

  71. 71.

    Conway et al. 2005.

  72. 72.

    Lewandowsky et al. 2010.

  73. 73.

    Barry 2005.

  74. 74.

    E.g., Hart 2007.

  75. 75.

    Stanley et al. 2011.

  76. 76.

    E.g., Barry 2005.

  77. 77.

    Stanley et al. 2011.

  78. 78.

    E.g., Grossman et al. 2004; Brown et al. 2012.

  79. 79.

    E.g., Good et al. 2016.

  80. 80.

    E.g., Weinstein et al. 2009.

  81. 81.

    E.g., Johnson et al. 2014.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. GenDx, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Anouk van Tilborg

  2. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, PO Box 90002, 4800 PA, Breda, The Netherlands

    Tom Bijlsma

  3. University Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Susanne Muis

Authors
  1. Anouk van Tilborg
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  2. Tom Bijlsma
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  3. Susanne Muis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anouk van Tilborg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Wim Klinkert

  2. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Myriame Bollen

  3. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Marenne Jansen

  4. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Henk de Jong

  5. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Eric-Hans Kramer

  6. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Lisette Vos

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van Tilborg, A., Bijlsma, T., Muis, S. (2019). Mindfulness in the Dutch Military – Train Your Brain. In: Klinkert, W., Bollen, M., Jansen, M., de Jong, H., Kramer, EH., Vos, L. (eds) NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019. NL ARMS. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_10

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