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Utilizing the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory as a guiding framework, the current study examined the relationships between job demands (work role strain) and occupational outcomes (burnout and job satisfaction) and assessed how job resources (team member social support and leader social support) mitigated the impact of high job demands for U.S. Air Force remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) operators. A total of 905 active duty U.S. Air Force RPA operators participated in a web-based occupational health assessment. Study findings confirmed that work role strain proved to be strongly related to negative occupational outcomes – increased burnout and reduced job satisfaction. Compelling evidence emerged suggesting that boosting job resources (i.e., team member and leader social support) may be a promising point of intervention to mitigate negative occupational outcomes. By investigating ongoing job demands that result in a higher incidence of burnout and job dissatisfaction, as well as job resources that protect against burnout and job dissatisfaction, researchers and practitioners can continue to introduce supportive resources at crucial points to alleviate the adverse consequences of occupational stress and burnout. Applying the JD-R theory to these findings highlights the importance of job resources for RPA operators and other employees working in high-risk, high-demand career fields. Implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Data indicate that pilots express high anxiety around seeking healthcare, seen across sex and age, resulting in pilots withholding information from their physicians and delaying seeking medical care. These barriers to seeking healthcare were seen across male and female aviators, but there is little research on the unique concerns female aviators have when it comes to seeking healthcare and maintaining their flight status. METHODS: We conducted qualitative interviews with airline pilots using a semi-structured interview guide to collect firsthand accounts and perspectives of (1) factors that support mental healthcare seeking and health information disclosure, (2) factors that discourage those behaviors, and (3) potential solutions to address pilot healthcare avoidance. Interview transcriptions underwent thematic content analysis by two independent researchers that involved deriving concepts from data and comparing them with other data to facilitate meaningful categorization. RESULTS: From the total sample of 36 interviews with U.S. airline pilots, there was a subset of 12 female airline pilots. Female pilots reported that medical revocation (92%, n = 11/12), stigma (58%, n = 7/12), and policy misinformation and lack of education (42%, n = 5/12) were the overall biggest factors that discouraged healthcare disclosure and utilization. The most reported encouraging factors were peer support services (50%, n = 6/12), third party resources (33%, n = 4/12), and union embedded medical resources (25%, n = 3/12). Recommendations from this sub-sample of airline pilots centered around changes with the female experience in mind or family-oriented concerns (e.g., adjust Federal Aviation Administration policies on women's health). DISCUSSION: Results suggest that female pilots want work environments that foster inclusivity and acknowledgment of their diverse needs. Their suggestions reflect a need for a cultural shift in their work environments, a need for acknowledgment and understanding of the differences in health needs of men and women, and a need for more attention given to clarifying, expanding, updating, and disseminating information about healthcare policies and processes. Learning Objectives 1. The presenter will help the audience see the need for acknowledgment and understanding of the differences in health needs of men and women. 2. The presenter will help the audience understand the need for more attention given to clarifying, expanding, updating, and disseminating information about healthcare policies and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Unlike airline transport pilots, military pilots on duty not including flying status are assigned other non-flying duties such as administrative work and their status does not impact their pay, but recent research has shown that military pilots also participate in healthcare avoidance behavior. METHODS: We conducted qualitative interviews with U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilots using a semi-structured interview guide to collect firsthand accounts and perspectives of (1) factors that support mental healthcare seeking and health information disclosure, (2) factors that discourage those behaviors, and (3) potential solutions to address pilot healthcare avoidance. Interview transcriptions underwent thematic content analysis by two independent researchers that involved deriving concepts from data and comparing them with other data to facilitate meaningful categorization. RESULTS: We conducted 21 interviews lasting an average of 30 min with USAF pilots. There were 138 pages of transcript, and code saturation occurred after 13 interviews. The most reported factors that discourage military pilot healthcare disclosure and healthcare utilization overall were medical revocation (90%, n = 19/21), stigma (90%, n=19/21), and lack of trust in providers (43%, n = 9/21). Unit embedded services (81%, n = 17/21), ease of access (48%, n = 10/21), and severity of condition (38%, n = 8/21) were the most reported factors encouraging disclosure and utilization. The top-reported recommendations from pilot interviewees were increased flight doctor accessibility (57%, n = 12/21) and education/support of policies (33%, n = 7/21). DISCUSSION: This is the first in-depth, systematic exploration of pilot perspectives on healthcare disclosure and utilization in the USAF. The results of this study will be used to shape USAF line and medical leadership strategies geared toward improving embedded mental healthcare capabilities for pilots in tip-of-the-spear communities. Learning Objectives 1. The participant will be able to understand the factors that influence mental healthcare avoidance behaviors among military pilots. 2. The audience will learn about potential solutions for encouraging disclosure of health symptoms and utilization of healthcare services among military pilots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US Air Force remote warrior community comprises several career fields including remotely piloted aircraft pilots and intelligence, cyber, and sensor operators. The crews are responsible for working seamlessly together to provide 24/7 real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and precision-strike weapons capabilities for a wide range of global combat operations. Due to the rapid increase in global demands and operational tempo, there is growing concern from military leadership about the impact of operational stress on the health and psychological wellbeing of remote warriors. Previous assessments from 2011 and 2015 have demonstrated a significant increase in the reported rates of operators experiencing suicide ideation. The current study examined two protective factors expected to reduce the risk of suicide ideation -- team member social support and leader social support. A total of 905 active duty remote warriors participated in occupational health assessments conducted in 2018. Risk factors for suicide ideation included being unmarried, worsening relationship problems, occupational burnout, and increased operational stress. Results indicated that team member and leader social support were significant protective factors for shift workers and those who reported being less likely to seek mental healthcare. Implications of the findings, intervention recommendations, and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The reality of pilot health care avoidance behavior is often common knowledge to both pilots and aeromedical physicians, but the underlying factors leading to this behavior are less understood. In the current study, we conducted a qualitative assessment of a sample of U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilots to gather firsthand perceptions of the factors that encourage and discourage disclosure during aeromedical screening and use of mental and physical health care services, as well as recommendations to improve the USAF aeromedical health care system., Materials and Methods: We conducted interviews with 21 USAF pilots on their perceptions of seeking medical care to identify factors that uniquely discourage or encourage disclosure and health care utilization to understand factors that aid the aeromedical provider/aviator relationship and to elicit interventions that could be prospectively researched. This work was reviewed by the Air Force Research Laboratory Institutional Review Board at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and designated as exempt research, FWR20220103E., Results: The most reported factors that discourage military pilot health care disclosure and health care utilization overall were medical revocation, stigma, and lack of trust in providers. Unit-embedded services, ease of access, and severity of condition were the most reported factors encouraging disclosure and utilization. Factor descriptions and exemplary quotes from pilots and pilot recommendations to encourage health care utilization and disclosure are provided., Conclusions: Results from firsthand interviews with pilots provide valuable information for flight surgeons to focus on building trust with their pilots to reduce health care avoidance., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.)

Objective: Imagery analysts of the United States Air Force distributed common ground system (DCGS) provide real-time intelligence informing battlefield decision-making processes worldwide. The number of DCGS combat operations personnel has grown along with the demand for their products, but little is known about the emotional impacts of remote warfighting. The current study is a mixed methods analysis of emotional reactions to remote fatality-inducing combat events and of potential demographic, occupational, and mission-specific correlates of negative emotional reactions to these combat operations in DCGS personnel., Method: One-hundred ninety-six active duty analysts with direct exposure to weapon strike operations volunteered to participate in semistructured interviews., Results: Participants were largely enlisted (93.9%), male (75%), and between 18 and 30 years of age (73.0%). Eighty-nine percent reported at least one positive emotion and 71% reported both positive and negative emotions in response to weapon strike events. An underlying current of positive emotions (e.g., pride, camaraderie, patriotism) combined with mission-specific negative emotions (e.g., sadness related to witnessing pain, suffering, and/or loss of life; anxiety and stress related to uncertainty and unforeseeable events) were commonly reported. Twenty-one percent endorsed negative emotions that disrupted their daily functioning, and witnessing a civilian casualty increased risk by 217%., Conclusion: DCGS analysts reported emotional responses similar to other remote warfighters but with proportional distributions that reflect their unique wartime roles and responsibilities. The heightened sense of responsibility associated with their wartime roles may elevate risk for negative emotional outcomes when adverse events, such as the death of a civilian, occur. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Imagery analysts are critical to the intelligence capabilities of the United States Air Force (USAF) and are known as the "eyes" of the USAF. The purpose of this study was to assess for posttraumatic disorder (PTSD) symptoms among this cohort. Of the 498 imagery analysts who participated, a total of 4.22% met provisional diagnostic criteria for PTSD as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) which was lower than established rates of PTSD (up to 18%) among military personnel returning from deployment. Implications of subclinical PTSD symptoms on occupational functioning and overall diagnostic picture are discussed., ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)