Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39083366›Full record

ArticleMilitary psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association2025

High-level military and sport leaders' everyday challenges and psychological skills: A cross-contextual repeated measures study.

Andreas Bencker, Gerry Larsson, Maria Fors Brandebo, Urban Johnson, Andreas Ivarsson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Andreas BenckerSchool of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-3458-0563
Gerry LarssonDepartment of Leadership, and Demand & Control, Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-8274-6065
Maria Fors BrandeboDepartment of Leadership, and Demand & Control, Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-0790-354X
Urban JohnsonSchool of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-0990-4842
Andreas IvarssonSchool of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-8987-5975

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Research shows that high-level military and sport leaders share a high-stress and high-stakes leader role due to similar experiences of demanding conditions mainly manifested in psychological burden. This raises research questions about leaders' psychological strategies to maintain their mental health and performance under demanding conditions. Thus, the current study investigated how experienced demanding conditions were related to self-rated leader performance level and mental health indicators among high-level military and sport leaders and whether the application of psychological skills by these leaders moderated these relationships. A composite questionnaire was used to collect data longitudinally, once a week for four consecutive weeks. Fifty-two Swedish high-ranking military officers and executives in elite team sport organizations completed the questionnaire. Multilevel analysis revealed no effect of demanding conditions on leader performance, but they harmed leader vitality and were associated with higher stress symptoms. Moreover, psychological skills did not moderate the relationship between demanding conditions and leader performance. However, motivational and instructional self-talk negatively moderated the relationship between demanding conditions and vitality. In contrast, emotional regulation, comprised of mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal, positively moderated vitality. Emphasizing the nuanced application of psychological skills is crucial while avoiding one-sided beliefs about their positive effects. Interventions are suggested to focus on vitality and related psychological skills to ensure leaders feel good while performing under demanding conditions. More cross-contextual leadership research, suggestively applied research, is needed to better understand the links between high-level military and sport leaders' psychological skills, leader performance, and mental health under demanding conditions.

Indexed as

LeadershipMilitary PersonnelSportsStress, PsychologicalAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesSwedenYoung Adultdemanding conditionsHigh-level military and sport leadersleader performancemental healthpsychological skills

Identifiers

PMID39083366
PMCPMC12413025

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.