Background: The military environment is characterized by unpredictable situations, intensive training, demanding workload, and job-associated stressors, which make it highly stressful. Mentorship and mental well-being training could be beneficial to both officers and the new adolescent recruits of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Aim: This study aimed at evaluating the effect of a multi-disciplinary structured training on mentoring and mental well-being among officers and instructors in the IAF.
Methods: Seventy IAF officers/instructors underwent a week-long multi-disciplinary structured training program, which was conducted at a tertiary care neuro-psychiatric hospital in South India. A quasi-experimental design with a single-group pre- and post-test was adopted. Outcome measures included a) knowledge on mentorship and mental health and b) self-perceived competence in addressing mental health distress.
Results: Post training, there was a statistically significant improvement in scores on mentorship/mental health knowledge and a significant increase in self-perceived competence in addressing mental distress.
Conclusion: Mentorship and mental well-being training for officers and instructors in the IAF improved mental health knowledge and self-perceived competence. Therefore, administration of regular and in-depth structured mental health-related training interventions could be beneficial not only to the officers but also to the new recruits/mentees in the IAF.
Keywords: Indian Air Force (IAF); knowledge; mental well-being; mentoring; self-perceived competence.
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