Vaughan Christine Anne, Farmer Carrie M, Breslau Joshua, Burnette Crystal
Rand Health Q. 2015 Nov 30;5(2):14.
The Marine Corps Operational Stress Control and Readiness (OSCAR) program embeds mental health personnel within Marine Corps units and extends their reach by training officers and noncommissioned officers to recognize Marines showing signs of stress and intervene early. RAND Corporation researchers conducted an outcome evaluation of the OSCAR program that included four components: (1) a quasi-experimental study that compared Marines in OSCAR-trained and non-OSCAR-trained battalions on a wide array of stress-related outcomes before and after deployment, (2) a longitudinal pre- and postdeployment survey of perceptions of OSCAR among Marines who attended OSCAR training, (3) focus groups with Marines, and (4) semistructured interviews with commanding officers of battalions that had received OSCAR training. Results indicated that, after the authors adjust for a wide array of baseline characteristics and deployment experiences, Marines in OSCAR-trained battalions were more likely than those in non-OSCAR-trained battalions to report having sought help with stress problems from a peer, leader, or corpsman-behavior that is consistent with OSCAR goals. In addition, Marines considered OSCAR a valuable tool for enhancing combat and operational stress response and recovery efforts in the Marine Corps. However, this evaluation did not find evidence that OSCAR affected the key mental health outcomes it was designed to address. Thus, the results of this evaluation do not support the continuation of OSCAR in its current form. Based on lessons learned about OSCAR from this evaluation, other research, and best practices for program improvement and implementation, recommendations for improving combat and operational stress training in the Marine Corps are offered.
海军陆战队作战压力控制与战备（OSCAR）计划将心理健康人员编入海军陆战队各单位，并通过培训军官和士官识别表现出压力迹象的海军陆战队员并尽早进行干预，从而扩大他们的影响力。兰德公司的研究人员对OSCAR计划进行了一项成果评估，该评估包括四个部分：（1）一项准实验研究，比较了接受OSCAR培训和未接受OSCAR培训的营中的海军陆战队员在部署前后一系列与压力相关的结果；（2）对参加OSCAR培训的海军陆战队员进行部署前和部署后的纵向调查，了解他们对OSCAR的看法；（3）与海军陆战队员进行焦点小组讨论；（4）对接受OSCAR培训的营的指挥官进行半结构化访谈。结果表明，在作者对一系列基线特征和部署经历进行调整后，接受OSCAR培训的营中的海军陆战队员比未接受OSCAR培训的营中的海军陆战队员更有可能报告曾向同伴、上级或医护兵寻求压力问题方面的帮助，这种行为与OSCAR的目标一致。此外，海军陆战队员认为OSCAR是增强海军陆战队作战和行动压力应对及恢复工作的宝贵工具。然而，这项评估没有发现证据表明OSCAR影响了其旨在解决的关键心理健康结果。因此，这项评估的结果不支持以目前的形式继续实施OSCAR。基于从这项评估、其他研究以及计划改进和实施的最佳实践中吸取的关于OSCAR的经验教训，提出了改进海军陆战队作战和行动压力训练的建议。
