Associations between Insomnia Severity, Perceived Stress, Mental Toughness, Dark Triad Traits, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Cadets of the Swiss Armed Forces.

Background: Compared to the general population, military personnel are at increased risk for insomnia and poor psychological well-being. The present study: (1) compared categories of insomnia severity between cadets of the Swiss Armed Forces (SAF) and previously published norms and (2) investigated the associations between insomnia and psychological well-being related to perceived stress, mental toughness, dark triad traits, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Methods: A total of 216 cadets of the SAF (mean age: 20.80 years) completed self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information, insomnia, perceived stress, mental toughness, dark triad, and organizational citizenship behavior. Data on insomnia sum scores and categories of historical samples (862 young adults and 533 police and emergency response service officers) were used for comparison.

Results: Cadets of the SAF reported higher insomnia sum scores and insomnia severity categories, compared to young adults and police officers. Higher scores for insomnia were associated with higher scores for stress, dark triad traits, and with lower scores for mental toughness and OCB. Categories of low, medium, and high stress moderated the association between insomnia and dark triad traits.

Conclusions: Compared to norms of the general population, cadets of the SAF reported a higher insomnia severity. Given that standardized treatment programs for insomnia, mental toughness, and above all for coping with stress are available, such interventions might be promising avenues to improve a cadet's overall sleep, psychological well-being, and behavior.