Psychological Hardiness and Grit Are Associated with Musculoskeletal Injury in U.S. Army Trainees

Abstract

Musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) during U.S. Army Basic Combat Training (BCT) are pervasive, costly, and erode training effectiveness. Research has explored factors, particularly physical and demographic characteristics, which contribute to injury risk in military trainees. Psychological traits, such as hardiness and grit, have been associated with positive performance outcomes and retention during military training, but their relationship to injury risk is unclear. In this study, 2275 U.S. Army trainees completed validated measures of hardiness and grit at the start (T1) and end (T2) of BCT, and reported injuries sustained during BCT via weekly survey. A majority of trainees (70%) reported an injury during BCT. Trainees reporting high scores on grit and positive hardiness subscales at T1 had 20–30% lower odds of self-reported injury during training; those reporting high scores on negative hardiness subscales at T1 had 20–40% greater odds of self-reported injury. Trainees who reported an injury during BCT also reported higher scores on negative hardiness subscales at T2 compared to uninjured trainees. These findings provide novel evidence supporting an association between positive psychological traits and MSKI risk in military trainees, and underscore the importance of considering psychological resilience when assessing MSKI risk in military populations.

Keywords:

• Resilience
• basic training
• military
• recruits
• psychosocial

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the study participants, as well as technical support personnel within USARIEM’s Military Performance Division, without whom this study would not have been possible.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Disclaimers

The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the U.S. Army or the Department of Defense. Any citations of commercial organizations and trade names in this report do not constitute an official Department of the Army endorsement of approval of the products or services of these organizations.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), and by an appointment to the Department of Defense (DOD) Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the DOD. ORISE is managed by ORAU under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664.