Page 46 - JSOM Fall 2023

A Novel Scale to Assess Psychological Strategies
in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians

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Marcus K. Taylor, PhD *; Nikki E. Barczak-Scarboro, PhD ;
Lisa M. Hernández, MS 3

ABSTRACT
Purpose: This report describes the development and validation We adapted the TOPS to describe strategy use in 58 U.S. Navy
of the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Com- EOD technicians, and results showed that not only was strat-
bat Mindset Scale-Training (CMS-T), a population-specific egy use in EOD technicians comparable to that of Olympic
measure of psychological strategy use in EOD training envi- athletes, but also that more resilient technicians utilize strat-
ronments. Methods: Scale items were developed by a working egies differently than their less resilient counterparts. This re-
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group composed of active-duty technicians from EOD Train- port was generally well received by EOD stakeholders, who
ing and Evaluation Unit 1, Naval Health Research Center sci- concluded that the TOPS was a useful template for evaluating
entists, and a psychometrician. The working group developed strategies in EOD personnel. However, most stakeholders felt
30 candidate items, which were administered to EOD acces- that the adapted TOPS was not adequately specific to the EOD
sions (new recruits), advanced students, and technicians (N = context. For instance, we learned that automaticity might only
164). Factor structure was explored with principal axis factor- be beneficial in certain choreographed EOD scenarios, such
ing and Varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization. Internal as emergency procedures. Additionally, it was suggested that
consistencies were established via Cronbach alpha, and con- “psyching up” was rarely applicable in the EOD context, and,
vergent validity was evaluated with correlational and ANOVA instead, “psyching down” was routinely identified as a pre-
models. Results: Five internally stable subscales were derived ferred skill for managing operational demands. We also learned
from 19 essential items, explaining 65% of total variance. that negative (rather than positive) internal dialogue is used
The subscales were named relaxation, attentional- emotional by some EOD technicians to enhance motivation. To address
control (AEC), goal setting-visualization (GSV), internal di- this new capability gap, we teamed with EOD subject matter
alogue (ID), and automaticity. The most frequently used experts (SMEs) to develop the U.S. Navy EOD CMS-T, a scale
strategies were GSV and ID. Expected relationships emerged that could be used to assess performance strategy use during
between strategies, most notably AEC and mental health. The training scenarios. By engaging and immersing the stakeholder
scale also differentiated between subgroups. Conclusion: The in our research process, we sought to refine a theory of EOD
EOD CMS-T demonstrates a stable factor structure, internal strategies during training and ultimately yield a practical, vali-
reliability, and convergent validity. This study yields a valid, dated instrument to support EOD training and evaluation.
practical, and easily administered instrument to support EOD
training and evaluation. One essential step of the validation process is to establish a
relationship between the candidate metric and conceptually
Keywords: stress; military; psychological strategies; explo- similar constructs. For example, one could reasonably expect
sive ordnance disposal; special operations a valid measure of strategy use to associate with mental health
symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic
stress. Although anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress
are among the most prevalent mental health issues faced by
Introduction
military personnel, associations between strategy use and men-
Evolving literature in the sport domain implies that psycholog- tal health in this context are understudied. However, some
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ical skills or strategies (hereafter termed strategies) facilitate evidence exists in sport and tactical athlete populations. Fol-
performance. 1,2 Some strategies for sport include emotional lowing strategies training, athletes who used self-talk and re-
control, goal setting, mental imagery, positive self-talk, and laxation more frequently endorsed fewer anxiety symptoms.
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relaxation, which are measured with the Test of Performance Likewise, new police officers who underwent imagery, relax-
Strategies (TOPS). Using the TOPS, some studies have found ation, and attentional control training endorsed a decrease in
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beneficial effects of strategy use on sport performance. 3–5 negative mood. To our knowledge, a link has not been estab-
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lished between strategy use and posttraumatic stress symptoms,
Because such benefits are applicable to other demanding en- but there is some conceptual overlap between performance
vironments, some scientists have adapted the TOPS for tacti- strategies (i.e., imagery, visualization, and relaxation) and cog-
cal populations, such as firefighters and military personnel. nitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is an effective treatment
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*Correspondence to Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, 140 Sylvester Road, San Diego, CA 92106, or
marcus.k.taylor2.civ@health.mil
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1 Dr Marcus K. Taylor is a research psychologist affiliated with the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA. Dr Nikki E. Barczak-Scarboro
is a scientist affiliated with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, and the Consortium for
Health and Military Performance, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD. Lisa M. Hernández is a research scientist
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affiliated with the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, and Leidos, Inc., San Diego, CA.
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