ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1691043
This article is part of the Research TopicMental health related stigma and mental health status in adolescent and youth in various cultural contextsView all articles
Dynamic Relationships Between Psychological Capital and Adaptation in New Military Recruits: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
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New recruits face severe psychological problems due to military adaption. This study examined the dynamic interplay between psychological capital (PsyCap) and adaptation among recruits during their initial training period. A total of 988 male recruits were assessed at three time points over an 8-week period, with cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) analysis employed to model predictive pathways and identify key nodes. Optimism had the strongest impact on the early adaptation (T1→T2), acting as a central linking bridge between PsyCap and the adaptation dimensions. Later in the T2→T3 stage, hope emerged as the strongest predictor, especially in relation to the reduction of the physical and psychological symptoms and an improvement in the role cognition. Resilience was a robust predictor of symptom improvement. The results reveal evolving roles of PsyCap components during adaptation, highlighting the importance of targeted interventions for enhancing adaptation among new recruits.
Keywords: Psychological Capital, adaptation, New recruits, military training, Cross-lagged panel network
Received: 22 Aug 2025; Accepted: 09 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Xu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qiao Zhang, qiaozhang0725@163.com
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