Department of Military Medical Psychology, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
Public Health School, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, 712046, China.
BMC Psychol. 2024 Aug 5;12(1):426. doi: 10.1186/s40359-024-01932-1.
The burgeoning field of research on the dual-factor model of mental health (DFM) has highlighted its significance, yet the applicability of the DFM in military personnel and its longitudinal relationships with different dimensions of meaning in life remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the applicability of the DFM for military personnel and to investigate longitudinal relationships between the dual factors of mental health (negative factor, positive factor) and the two dimensions of meaning in life (presence of meaning, search for meaning) in military personnel.
In this study, data were collected in two waves (April and August 2023) from 227 Chinese military personnel. We constructed a dual-factor model with depression as the negative factor and subjective well-being as the positive factor, and we compared it with a single-factor model to determine if DFM could be applied to military personnel. We also constructed a cross-lagged model to investigate longitudinal relationships between depression, subjective well-being, presence of meaning, and search for meaning.
According to the findings, military personnel fit better with the DFM than with the single-factor model. Cross-lagged analysis results revealed that both the presence of meaning and the search for meaning negatively predicted depression and positively predicted subjective well-being.
The DFM had good applicability among military personnel. Both the presence of meaning and the search for meaning could improve military mental health, suggesting that both dimensions of meaning in life may be potential targets for improving military mental health.
心理健康双重因素模型（DFM）的研究领域不断发展，突显了其重要性，但该模型在军事人员中的适用性以及与生活意义不同维度的纵向关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在明确 DFM 在军事人员中的适用性，并探讨心理健康的双重因素（消极因素、积极因素）与生活意义的两个维度（意义的存在、意义的寻找）在军事人员中的纵向关系。
本研究在 2023 年 4 月和 8 月两次从 227 名中国军事人员中收集数据。我们构建了一个包含抑郁作为消极因素和主观幸福感作为积极因素的双重因素模型，并将其与单因素模型进行比较，以确定 DFM 是否适用于军事人员。我们还构建了一个交叉滞后模型来研究抑郁、主观幸福感、意义的存在和意义的寻找之间的纵向关系。
根据研究结果，军事人员更符合 DFM 而不是单因素模型。交叉滞后分析结果表明，意义的存在和意义的寻找都对抑郁有负向预测作用，对主观幸福感有正向预测作用。
DFM 在军事人员中具有良好的适用性。意义的存在和意义的寻找都可以改善军事心理健康，这表明生活意义的两个维度都可能是改善军事心理健康的潜在目标。
