Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Military Psychology logoLink to Military Psychology
. 2023 Sep 21;36(6):689–700. doi: 10.1080/08995605.2023.2258737

The first shot counts the most: Tactical breathing as an intervention to increase marksmanship accuracy in student officers

Fabio Ibrahim a,✉, Jonas Schumacher b, Lars Schwandt b, Philipp Yorck Herzberg b
PMCID: PMC11622642  PMID: 37733483

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated the effect of tactical breathing (breath-based stress management) on marksmanship performance in a randomized between-subjects design. The total of n = 100 participants (18% female) were all student soldiers and randomly assigned to the intervention group (tactical breathing) or the control group. In the German Armed Forces shooting simulator, participants shot ten rounds at ten meters with the P8 (Heckler and Koch). In addition, the effect of neuroticism, fear of failure, and resilience on shooting performance and the interaction of those traits with the experimental condition were examined. Overall, the total hit score showed a strong ceiling effect, so the more difficult initial hit was primarily used as a performance criterion. None of the personality traits significantly affected the initial hit, and there were no interactions between the experimental condition and the personality traits. However, there was a significant difference in initial hit between the control and experimental group, as the tactical breathing group shot an average of 1.9 points better, t(98) = 8.489, p < .001, d = 1.698. Considering the initial shot, which was more difficult due to the uncocked trigger, tactical breathing proved to be an effective method for increasing marksmanship performance.

KEYWORDS: Tactical breathing, marksmanship performance, neuroticism, fear of failure, resilience

What is the public significance of this article?—Tactical breathing is a widely used stress management technique in military and police contexts to downregulate arousal levels through conscious breathing. In military- and law enforcement, high-pressure situations are often characterized by the use of firearms, so an effective stress management technique should also improve shooting performance. This study shows that tactical breathing increases first-shot accuracy. Thus, tactical breathing is a valuable stress management skill that can improve shooting performance in high-risk occupations.

Introduction

Service in high-risk professions such as the military and law enforcement is characterized by situations that require performance under adverse conditions (De Terte & Stephens, 2014). Moreover, those critical situations often require law enforcement under resistance, which may imply weaponized combat in extreme cases. Accordingly, one central task of training in high-risk occupations is preparing servants for those scenarios.

The constantly changing operational reality of soldiers and police officers leads to continuous adjustments in professional requirements and firearms training. This cross-institutional adaptation of gunnery training highlights the central role of shooting proficiency in the skill range of police and military. For example, the new conflict reality and counterinsurgency experiences of the Bundeswehr within the Afghanistan mission led to the “new shooting training concept” (nSAK). This concept signified a fundamental reorientation of the previous shooting training, starting in 2010. At its core, nSAK involves engaging close and near targets, whereas prior to 2010, the German armed forces’ firearms training focused on medium and long-range combat (Hilpert, 2014, pp. 147–148). Also, the German police had undergone a strategic shift in the wake of increasing rampage and terrorism threats, including equipment, operational tactics, and training. For example, in amok situations, police officers must independently initiate an immediate intervention before the arrival of special forces (Bauermann, 2017). This potential operational situation places a high demand on the shooting skills of every German police officer, especially in stressful situations. The development and maintenance of shooting skills under stress and in dynamic situations are required for soldiers and police officers to meet these new capability requirements.

To perform under stress in actual operations, psychological skills are trained as a complement to motoric and tactical skills (Pallavicini et al., 2016). Accordingly, stress capacity is a main psychological training target within high-risk occupations and apparent in various concepts such as Resilience Training (Zueger et al., 2022), Tactics of Optimized Potential (Hoareau et al., 2021), Mind-Body Medicine program (MBM; Millegan et al., 2021), and the Resilience Training Course for Leadership Personnel in the German Military Police Forces (Brinkmann et al., 2022).

Those concepts intend to increase the self-regulation capacity so that the participants learn to function in stressful situations by regulating the psychophysical arousal level. Stress management skills are used in the field of sports psychology (Rumbold et al., 2012) and military and police psychology (Patterson et al., 2012) to increase performance in professional athletes (Kaufman et al., 2018) and specialized military and police forces (Le Scanff & Taugis, 2002).

A key area of self-regulation techniques is breathwork, which can be divided into long-term and short-term interventions. For example, mindfulness meditation, namely Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; Hülsheger et al., 2013), is considered a long-term method for building resilience, decreasing cortisol levels (Matousek et al., 2010), improving working memory and emotion regulation (Lao et al., 2016). However, this form of meditation is considered a long-term training, and neurologically measurable effects occur after approximately eight weeks (Gotink et al., 2016). Accordingly, besides long-term training, servants in high-risk occupations need a tool to down-regulate stress in acute situations (Bouchard et al., 2012).

These short-acting methods include breathing techniques such as the physiological sigh (Vlemincx et al., 2016), prolongued exhalation (Cappo & Holmes, 1984), and combat tactical breathing (Röttger et al., 2021). Combat tactical breathing, or tactical breathing (TB), is a frequently instructed method in soldiers basic training (Bouchard et al., 2012). However, the effect of this technique, especially in the military context, is sparsely researched (Röttger et al., 2021). An effective stress management technique for high-risk occupations should positively impact performance in critical situations, which is the weaponized combat in extreme scenarios.

In this study, we aim to bridge this gap and investigate whether the method of tactical breathing serves student officers as a method for increasing their shooting accuracy. Additionally, we examine the effect of resilience, neuroticism, and fear of failure on shooting performance.

Theoretical constructs

Marksmanship is of critical importance in the military and police, and the shooting accuracy of soldiers decreases under anxiety and heightened arousal (Nibbeling et al., 2014). Therefore, a central task of operational psychology is to increase self-regulation capacity, often in the form of tactical breathing, to maintain shooting ability in stressful situations.

Tactical breathing

Breathing techniques are a way to regulate arousal levels in stressful situations by influencing the cardiovascular system (Röttger et al., 2021). Tactical Breathing (TB) is considered a short-term stress management technique. It is widely used in the military and law enforcement to enhance cognitive and psychomotor performance in stressful situations (Lotfabadi et al., 2021). Psychophysical feedback mechanisms such as respiratory sinus arrhythmia synchronize respiratory rhythm with heart rate (Yasuma & Hayano, 2004). Accordingly, prolonged exhalation leads to a slowing heart rate and lower perceived emotional arousal (Butler et al., 2006). However, Grossman and Christensen’s (2007) TB comprises four equal-length phases of respiration (inhalation, post-inhalation hold, exhalation, post-exhalation hold; 4:4:4:4), so that respiratory sinus arrhythmia may not be a central mechanism of a lower heart rate. Röttger et al. (2021) explain the decreased heart rate through TB by an increased parasympathetic activity achieved by breath holding (diving response; see also Foster & Sheel, 2005) and with the cognitive demand of counting the four breathing phases, which acts as a distraction from stressors.

Bouchard et al. (2012) also found that TB reduces heart rate and cortisol response during stress induction by playing a first-person horror shooter game. However, there are mixed findings on the benefits of TB on performance. In the study by Grubish et al. (2016), in which they investigated the effect of TB on emergency medical care performance, they found that the time required for intubation between the TB group and the control group was the same. However, the objective and subjective intubation success was higher in the TB group. Lotfabadi et al. (2021) investigated the combined effect of TB and biofeedback on shooting performance. A significant increase in heart rate variability (HRV) was found in the TB group, which indicates a lower stress level. Nevertheless, the TB group did not show better shooting performance than the control group.

To date, there are only scattered scientific findings on the effect of TB on marksmanship performance, although TB is a widely used stress management tool in operational psychology. In addition, the examination of moderating personality traits on the effect of TB on marksmanship performance has also not been investigated to this point, so we examine this influence to determine potential groups of individuals who would particularly benefit from TB training.

Neuroticism

One personality trait that interacts particularly with stressors affecting performance is neuroticism. Individuals high in neuroticism tend to be more anxious, less emotionally stable, and experience more negative affect. In addition, individuals high in neuroticism perceive ordinary situations as more threatening, respond less functionally to stressors (Widiger & Oltmanns, 2017), exhibit lower situational awareness (Saus et al., 2012), and show a prolonged physiological reaction to emotionally evocative stimuli (Norris et al., 2007). Accordingly, the coping style is more avoidant and emotional (Penley & Tomaka, 2002). The research of Löfgren and Hansson (2022) show that neuroticism negatively impacts shooting scores within a sample of police students. However, within a sample of Norwegian navy special forces, in contrast to openness, neuroticism was not a predictor of shooting ability, with the authors explaining that the sample had a very low level of neuroticism in general (Buskerud et al., 2022). Accordingly, the constitution of the sample has a significant influence on the effect of stress management interventions. This is illustrated by the study of Krick and Felfe (2020), in which participants with higher levels of neuroticism benefited more from a six-week mindfulness meditation in terms of mindfulness, self-care, psychological strain, and negative affect. Interestingly, openness had a moderating effect on the relationship between mindfulness and HRV in this study, which may act as an explanatory factor for the relationship between openness and shooting performance within the sample of Norwegian special forces. Accordingly, the divergent findings on the influence of neuroticism on shooting performance, as well as a potential moderating effect of neuroticism on the effect of TB on shooting performance, is the subject of this study.

Fear of failure

Another personality trait that is related to neuroticism (Watson, 2001) and characterized by avoidance and anxiety is fear of failure (FF). Atkinson (1957, p. 360) describes FF as “the capacity or propensity to experience shame upon failure.” FF is an essential construct in sports psychology as it is related to stress (Gould et al., 1983), an increased tendency to worry (Conroy et al., 2002), and increased somatic anxiety. Furthermore, FF predicts cognitive disruption (Correia & Rosado, 2018), increased perceived tension (De Muynck et al., 2020), and lower sporting performance (Sagar et al., 2009). Additionally, individuals with higher expression in FF exhibit increased perfectionistic tendencies, concern over mistakes, and doubts about their own actions (Correia, 2018). Specifically, the negative association of FF with sporting performance leads to the question of the extent to which FF is related to shooting performance and moderates the potential effect of the TB intervention on shooting performance.

Resilience

One construct that is increasingly researched in the field of high-risk occupations is psychological resilience. Resilience is the psychological capacity to resist abuse and recover from trauma and stress (Atkinson et al., 2009). Resilience is the ability to adapt in the face of stress and adversity (Adler et al., 2015) to maintain a sufficient level of performance and achieve success despite resistance (Pulakos et al., 2000). Other traits that constitute the nomological network of resilience are hardiness, grit, and mental toughness (Jones et al., 2022). These also elucidated the implication of resilience as the capability to perform despite stress and pressure. Therefore, a key aptitude feature of special operation forces (SOF) is “to adapt quickly to high-stress operational environments while increasing resilience to combat stressors” (Canada et al., 2018). To increase resilience, so-called human performance optimization programs (HPO) have been implemented in numerous SOFs (Park et al., 2017). Canada et al. (2018) examined whether participation in the Tactical Human Optimization, Rapid Rehabilitation and Reconditioning (THOR3) program increased performance in an outdoor shooting course. The THOR3 intervention group showed no significant differences in performance, with the intervention group showing a more homogeneous performance outcome. Landman et al. (2015) showed that the most relevant predictor of shooting performance under pressure was work experience in high-risk settings. Also, the behavioral inhibition system and the trait thrill- and adventure-seeking showed incremental validity. Those results may suggest that operational resilience, i.e., psychomotor performance in stressful situations, is highly adaptable through experience and less considered a stable personality-affected capability. Overall, resilience is considered a predictor of higher performance under pressure, so TB could be less effective for resilient people as they inherently better cope with stress.

In conclusion, shooting ability is of central importance in high-risk occupations; therefore, teaching stress management skills is a central task of operational psychology. TB is a widely trained method of self-regulation in stressful situations, although little research has been conducted on the effects of this technique on shooting performance.

Aim of this study

The current study, therefore, seeks to investigate the effect of TB on shooting performance in an experimental between-subjects design with a randomized group assignment. The dependent variable of this study is shooting performance with the facets: first hit, trigger behavior and hit total score. At first, we examine the influence of the personality traits neuroticism, fear of failure, and resilience on the shooting performance:

H1a:

Neuroticism is negatively related to shooting performance.

H1b:

Fear of Failure is negatively related to shooting performance.

H1c:

Resilience is positively related to shooting performance.

In the second step, we examine the influence of group allocation (TB vs. control condition) on shooting performance by controlling for demographic variables, shooting experience, and personality traits.

H2:

Tactical breathing has a positive influence on shooting performance.

In the third step, the interaction of neuroticism, fear of failure, and resilience and the effect of TB on shooting performance are examined to assess whether TB is more effective for a particular group of individuals:

H3a:

The positive effect of tactical breathing on shooting performance is enhanced by neuroticism, so participants higher in neuroticism benefit more from tactical breathing.

H3b:

The positive effect of tactical breathing on shooting performance is enhanced by fear of failure, so participants higher in fear of failure benefit more from tactical breathing.

H3c:

The positive effect of tactical breathing on shooting performance is reduced by resilience, so participants lower in resilience benefit more from tactical breathing.

Method

Procedure

The survey was conducted in two phases. The first phase consisted of an online questionnaire using SoSciSurvey version 3.2.21 consisting of privacy instructions, demographic details, and personality questionnaires. In addition, participants generated a survey code, which was used in the following experimental phase to link the datasets.

After that, all participants first received a 20-minute instruction on handguns, which included the basic safety rules, the five elements of shooting, and how to use the P8 gun.

In the second phase, participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (tactical breathing) or the control group. Both groups were separated so that participants could not observe any differences in the procedure. Before shooting, the intervention group performed ten gif-animation-supported cycles of TB (inhale; post-inhale hold; exhale; post-exhale hold; 4:4:4:4; 160 seconds in total). Afterward, within one minute, the shooting exercise was explained to the participants by the shooting instructors. The control group received an approximately two-minute anecdote on handgun use instead of the TB intervention, followed by instruction on the shooting exercise as well. In total, both groups fired the first shot after approximately four minutes. Both groups had to shoot at a ten-ring target from a distance of ten meters with no time limit. After completion of the exercise, the test leaders reviewed the hit pattern with the participants and afterward transferred the data.

Simulator

The German Armed Forces firing simulator used in this study consists of a control panel, four lane-computers with weapon connections and imaging projectors, and one projection screen. The exercise was executed with the Heckler and Koch P8. The simulator generates a realistic recoil through compressed air. No projectiles are fired, but infrared sensors measure the aiming process, and the trajectory computers calculate the hit point of the respective shot. In addition, pressure sensors calculate and graphically illustrate the shooter’s trigger behavior. Finally, the instructors used those graphics to evaluate the participants on this criterion.

Participants

The voluntary participation was advertised to all students at the Helmut-Schmidt-University and compensated with experimental hours. The study design followed data protection laws, and all participants provided written formal consent. Participants were recruited by mailing a bulletin to all student officers who could register bindingly for one of the shooting days. Afterward, the link to the online survey was sent out, which was a prerequisite for participation in the shooting. Therefore, the response rate was 100%. The online and six experimental surveys took place between October 26 and December 14, 2021. The n = 107 participants were studying soldiers of the German armed forces and were not allowed to have any physical or mental impairments as a prerequisite. The participants had no stress management training in their previous officer careers and, therefore, no experience with TB. Six data sets were sorted out due to incomplete and highly conspicuous response behavior (low variability and same responses also with inverted items), and one data set due to lack of consent for data processing. The adjusted data set thus comprised n = 100 subjects with n = 81 men (81%), n = 19 women (19%), and a mean age of 23.30 years ([18, 31], SD = 2.98, Md = 23.00). The data are publicly accessible at https://osf.io/5z8da/.

Instruments and measurements

German resilience short scale (RS-11)

The German-language RS-11 (Schumacher et al., 2005) comprises 11 items and assesses psychological resilience in the face of stress. The one-dimensional scale is based on the Resilience Scale by Wagnild and Young (1993) and uses a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (I disagree) to 7 (I completely agree). The scale has a very good internal consistency (α = .91; Schumacher et al., 2005).

Performance failure appraisal inventory (PFAI)

The Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (Conroy et al., 2002) includes 25 items and forms five subscales (Fear of Experiencing Shame and Embarrassment, Fear of Devaluing One’s Self-Estimate, Fear of Having an Uncertain Future, Fear of Important Others Losing Interest, Fear of Upsetting Important Others) and uses a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Do Not Believe At All) to 5 (Believe 100% of the Time). In this study, we assessed the Fear of Experiencing Shame and Embarrassment (α = .80) and Fear of Devaluing One’s Self-Estimate (α = .74) subscales in a German translation of the scale, which was translated back and forth twice for validation.

Big five inventory 2 – neuroticism (BFI-2)

The Big Five Inventory 2 (Danner et al., 2019) includes 60 items and measures the five personality domains (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness) with a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). In this study, we surveyed the neuroticism scale, consisting of 12 items. The neuroticism scale shows very good internal consistency (ω = .85; α = .89; rtt = .87).

Shooting performance

The shooting result was measured based on the hits on a 10-ring disc with a diameter of 50 cm (2.5 cm ring width).

Initial shot

This study considers the initial shot separately because of the greater difficulty in contrast to the subsequent shots. With the first shot, the gun trigger is decocked, and more force is required to pull the trigger. The trigger weight for the initial shot is five kilograms, and for the following nine shots with the trigger cocked, 2 kilograms. The performance in the initial hit ranges from 0 (missed the target) to 10 (≤2.5 cm distance from the center point).

Hit total score

The hit total score is the sum of the ten shots and ranges from 0 (no hit) to 100 (ten shots á ten points).

Trigger behavior

For the trigger behavior, the graphical results of the built-in pressure sensor measurements were evaluated by two independent assessors based on three criteria: a) continuous pressure increase until the shot breaks; b) holding after the shot breaks; c) searching for the pressure point again. The Trigger Behavior was scored on a scale from 0 (no criterion met) to 3 (three criteria met).

Analytic technique

We used the software R (R Core Team, 2016) for the statistical analyses and the basic functions to calculate descriptive statistics and correlations. Using a two-step hierarchical regression analysis, we examined the influence of the experimental condition (TB vs. control condition) controlling for demographic and personality variables. To calculate moderation effects, we mean-centered the antecedents and computed the interaction terms with the package processR (Hayes, 2022). The power was high, as correlations ≥.19 could be detected with 5% type-I error rate and 90% power.

Results

The sample description in Table 1 indicates the equal distribution of demographic and personality characteristics in the intervention and control group. Examining the shooting performance indicators: initial hit, trigger behavior, and hit total score reveals a ceiling effect within the hit total score distribution (skewness = −1.249). In contrast, the initial hit is a practical (higher trigger weight) and psychometrically more difficult criterion (less left skew distribution; skewness = −0.492). Therefore, the initial hit is the more informative performance indicator and will be primarily considered in this study.

Table 1.

Descriptive statistics of the interventional and control group.

    Sample
    
 
  
 Intervention
 Control
 All
  
  
    380 (49) 391 (51) Sum % Range Cohen´s d
Sample Size 50 50 100    
Male in % 40 (80%) 41 (82%) 81 (81%)    
Age 23.5 (2.92) 23.1 (3.06) 23.3 (2.98) 15.00 −.134
Shooting experience 2.40 (1.41) 2.32 (1.41) 2.36 (1.40) 4.00 −.057
Personality Neuroticism 30.68 (7.00) 31.58 (7.43) 31.13 (7.20) 35.00 .125
 Anxiety 10.94 (2.54) 11.18 (2.92) 11.06 (2.73) 12.00 .088
 Depression 9.42 (2.98) 9.5 (2.94) 9.46 (2.94) 13.00 .027
 Emot. Volatility 10.32 (2.77) 10.9 (2.99) 10.61 (2.88) 14.00 .201
Resilience 59.66 (4.61) 59.32 (6.48) 59.49 (5.60) 30.00 −.060
PFAI 33.38 (7.98) 32.04 (8.20) 32.71 (8.08) 43.00 −.166
 Shame 24.88 (6.34) 24.14 (6.69) 24.51 (6.49) 31.00 −.114
 Devaluing Self-Estimate 8.5 (2.53) 7.9 (2.76) 8.2 (2.65) 12.00 −.227
Shooting Initial shot 8.94 (0.93) 7.04 (1.28) 7.99 (1.47) 6.00 −1.698
Trigger behavior 2.38 (0.75) 1.42 (0.86) 1.9 (0.94) 3.00 −1.188
Hit total score 87.42 (7.42) 85.48 (8.69) 86.45 (8.10) 42.00 −.240
Open in a new tab

Standard deviation in brackets; the percentages have been rounded to whole numbers; Cohen´s d as effect size for measuring differences between the subsamples.

Contrary to the hypotheses, there are no correlations between the personality variables neuroticism (H1a; Table 2), performance failure appraisal (H1b), and resilience (H1c) with the initial hit (r = −.10/−.12/−.01), the trigger behavior (r = −.14/−.10/−.02) or the hit total score (r = −.10/−.15/−.02). Accordingly, the hypotheses H1a, H1b, and H1c are rejected.

Table 2.

Correlations of the demografic, personality, and performance variables.

    1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
1. Gender                            
2. Age −0.17                          
3. Shooting experience −0.13 −0.14                        
4. Neuroticism (.85) 0.33 0.02 −0.24                      
5.  Anxiety (.66) 0.38 0.07 −0.30 0.89                    
6.  Depression (.74) 0.19 −0.02 −0.19 0.81 0.58                  
7.  Emotional Volatility (.73) 0.26 0.00 −0.13 0.84 0.67 0.45                
8. PFAI (.83) 0.20 −0.20 −0.18 0.47 0.44 0.46 0.30              
9.  FSE (.83) 0.16 −0.18 −0.19 0.45 0.43 0.43 0.29 0.96            
10.  FDS (.64) 0.22 −0.16 −0.08 0.32 0.29 0.33 0.20 0.70 0.47          
11. Resilience (.61) −0.31 0.08 0.03 −0.28 −0.19 −0.32 −0.21 −0.02 −0.02 −0.02        
12. Initial hit 0.06 0.09 0.20 −0.10 −0.09 −0.07 −0.09 −0.12 −0.12 −0.06 −0.01      
13. Trigger behavior 0.08 0.03 0.14 −0.14 −0.11 −0.12 −0.11 −0.10 −0.13 0.02 −0.02 0.76    
14. Shooting performance −0.30 0.10 0.15 −0.10 −0.12 −0.10 −0.03 −0.15 −0.14 −0.13 −0.02 0.34 0.23  
15. Condition 0.03 0.07 0.03 −0.06 −0.04 −0.01 −0.10 0.08 0.06 0.11 0.03 0.65 0.52 0.12
Open in a new tab

Gender (female = 2); (Exp) Number of shooting experiences the year; (Neurot.) Neuroticism; (PFAI) Performance failure appraisal inventory; (FSE) Fear of experiencing shame and embarrassment; (FDS) Fear of devaluing one’s self-estimate; (Res.) Resilience; (Trigger b.) Trigger behavior; (Shooting p.) Hit total score; Condition (Control group = 1; TB = 2); Cronbach’s α in brackets; Cronbach’s α in brackets; |r| > .19/.25/.30 are related to p < .05/.01/.001.

Hypothesis H2 on the influence of TB intervention on shooting performance forms the focus of investigation and is measured using the dependent variable initial hit. The influence of TB on shooting accuracy was examined by regressing hierarchically. The first step included the demographic and personality variables. The second step included the experimental condition. The results (Table 3) show that shooting experience, age, gender, resilience, performance failure appraisal, and neuroticism are not significant predictors of the dependent variable initial hit. In particular, neuroticism and performance failure appraisal show a medium correlation and, thus, low incremental validity (r = .47). The model (H0) is not significant, F(6,93) = 1.221, p = .303.

Table 3.

Summary of the hierarchical regression predicting initial hit.

          95% CI
        
Variable B SE β t Lower Upper F R R2Adj ΔR2
Step 1             1.221 .270 .013  
 Experience 0.217 0.110 .207 1.973 −0.001 .435        
 Age 0.065 0.052 .132 1.237 −0.039 .169        
 Gender 0.501 0.412 .135 1.216 −0.317 1.320        
 Resilience −0.003 0.029 −.010 −0.093 −0.059 .054        
 PFAI −0.008 0.022 −.045 −0.378 −0.051 .035        
 Neuroticism −0.016 0.025 −.077 −0.616 −0.066 .035        
Step 2             12.502 .698 .449 .414
 Experience 0.183 0.082 .175 2.224* 0.020 .346        
 Age 0.025 0.039 .050 0.622 −0.054 .103        
 Gender 0.333 0.309 .090 1.080 −0.280 .947        
 Resilience −0.002 0.021 −.009 −0.105 −0.045 .040        
 PFAI −0.030 0.016 −.163 −1.809 −0.062 .003        
 Neuroticism 0.006 0.019 .029 0.304 −0.032 .044        
 Condition 1.915 0.222 .656 8.626*** 1.474 2.355        
Open in a new tab

N = 100; 5000 bootstraps; Gender (female = 2); (Experience) Number of shooting experiences that year; (PFAI) Performance failure appraisal inventory; Condition (Control group = 1; TB = 2); *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

The second step, including the experimental condition, indicate that TB has a large effect on the variable initial shot, while controlling for demographic and personality variables, B = 1.915, SE = 0.222, β = .656, t = 8.626, p < .001, ΔR2 = .414, 95% CI = [1.474, 3.355]). Therefore, the overall model is highly significant, F(1,92) = 12.502, p < .001, and the group condition (TB vs. control group) explains 41.4% additional variance of the precision in initial hit (Table 3), so the null hypothesis 2 can be rejected. Accordingly, there is a significant difference between the control and TB group in initial hit accuracy (Figure 1), with hit precision in the TB group being on average 1.9 points higher, t(98) = 8.489, p < .001, d = 1.698.

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Open in a new tab

Graphical comparison of the (1) control group and the (2) intervention group on the initial hit accuracy.

Contrary to the hypothesized moderation, none of the personality variables analyzed moderated the effect of TB on the dependent variable initial hit (Table 4). Neither the interaction of the condition with neuroticism (B = −0.032, SE = 0.031, t = −1.004, p = .318, ΔR2 = .006, 95% CI [−0.096, 0.025]), with performance failure appraisal (B = −0.046, SE = 0.027, t = −1.686, p = .095, ΔR2 = .016, 95% CI [−0.099, 0.008]) or resilience (B = 0.050, SE = 0.043, t = 1.127, p = .244, ΔR2 = .008, 95% CI [−0.035, 0.135]) are significant. Accordingly, the personality variables show no influence on the effect of TB on the initial shot, so hypotheses H3a, H3b, and H3c are rejected.

Table 4.

The moderational effects between personality and experimental condition on the initial hit.

Model   B SE β t p 95%CIL 95%CIU ΔR2 ΔF
H1:                 .006 1.008
  Condition 1.888 0.355 .647 8.403 <.001 1.436 2.349    
  Neuroticism 0.034 0.225 .169 0706 .482 −0.055 0.136    
  Interaction −0.032 0.031 −.241 −1.004 .318 −0.096 0.025    
H1:                 .016 2.841
  Condition 1.943 0.218 .666 9.925 <.001 1.516 2.344    
  PFAI 0.036 0.043 .200 0.853 .396 −0.048 0.121    
  Interaction −0.046 0.027 −.394 −1.686 .095 −0.099 0.008    
H1:                 .008 1.373
  Condition 1.900 0.224 .651 8.465 <.001 4.431 5.840    
  Resilience −0.075 0.060 −.286 −1.242 .217 −0.195 0.045    
  Interaction 0.050 0.043 .270 1.172 .244 −0.035 0.135    
Open in a new tab

H1 as model including the interaction term; Confidence intervals based on bootstrapping with 5000 replicates; mean-centered moderators; (PFAI) Performance failure appraisal inventory.

Discussion

Stress management techniques are used in high-risk occupations such as law enforcement and the military to achieve the required cognitive and psychomotor performance in acute stress situations like weaponized combat scenarios (Grossman & Christensen, 2007). TB is a widely trained method for self-regulation in this occupational group, although the effects of this technique have been sparsely studied (Röttger et al., 2021). Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of TB on shooting performance while simultaneously examining the influence of personality variables.

The examination of the descriptive statistics showed that the first shot was the most difficult performance parameter (lower skewness) in this study because the trigger weight (five kg) and the psychological tension of the participants were highest there. The first shot is also highly relevant from a practical point of view because it initiates the phase transition from the negotiation phase to the combat phase in tactical situations such as hostage situations.

The results of the study show that TB has a positive effect on precision in the initial shot. This could be due to lower arousal (Röttger et al., 2021) and/or higher attentional focus, increasing psychomotor performance (Wulf, 2007). A possible increase in attentional focus due to TB is evident because of TB´s effect on trigger behavior (r = .52, p < .001), as the TB group exhibited a significantly more correct trigger behavior (trigger finger seeks pressure point, consistent trigger behavior, follow-through). Conversely, a trigger behavior that is too convulsive leads to uneven gun handling and less precision. The relevance of trigger behavior for precision is evident through the correlation with the initial shot as the most challenging (r = .76, p < .001). Accordingly, TB might have increased the deliberate attention to the individual technical aspects of shooting and led to an improved hit pattern, especially in the initial shot. Therefore, TB could lead to lower arousal and increased attentional performance, influencing the psychomotor implementation of movement sequences. However, these positive effects are only noticeable in tasks in which psychomotor inaccuracies are sufficiently punished, such as the initial shot, in which the trigger weight is more than twice as high as in the subsequent shots.

The group differences within the hit total score were not significant. We explain this lack of differences by the low difficulty of the task, since the shooting range was only 10 meters and shots 2 to 10 were shot with a cocked hammer (2 kg trigger weight).

Lotfabadi et al. (2021) also found no influence of TB on marksmanship performance, even when TB increased HRV (decrease stress level). It would be important to determine whether TB exhibits a prolonged positive influence in particularly challenging situations (beyond the initial shot) in follow-up studies. Furthermore, Lotfabadi et al. (2021) determined no significant effect of gender on shooting stress event and called for future studies to include personality as an influencing factor on stress ability.

Therefore, in this study, we examined the influence of the personality variables neuroticism, fear of failure, and resilience. Contrary to our expectations, the different personality traits had no influence on shooting performance. There were also no interaction effects between the assessed personality traits and TB intervention on marksmanship performance, which fits with the results of Buskerud et al. (2022), who also found no influence of neuroticism on marksmanship performance.

Perspectives

Since the effect of TB on shooting performance was only evident in the most challenging shot, the initial shot, so follow-up studies should increase the difficulty to enhance the effect of TB on shooting accuracy. For example, time pressure and decision-making costs, and more demanding conditions such as increased distance and smaller hit zones, could be used to prevent a ceiling effect of the performance criteria. Furthermore, more realistic scenarios with increased ambiguity and requirements, such as rescue missions or tactically acting opponents, would increase the practical value of the study results. For example, an experimental design with non-lethal shooting, such as paintball, would be a yielding experimental design to examine the effect of TB within close to reality conditions in future studies. In addition, future studies could contrast the effects of TB on experienced and inexperienced shooters. Suppose TB positively affects shooting performance, particularly through increased attentional performance and more careful psychomotor execution. In that case, the effect might be smaller for experienced shooters who perform movements highly automatedly. In addition, future investigations could survey eye movement and heart rate variability to infer changes in physiological arousal and visual attention and examine those as possible mediators of the consequent shooting performance. Physiological indicators of arousal levels would make it possible to assess whether improved shooting precision through TB is achieved by reducing arousal or possibly by increasing attention to the shooting process. Also, the effect of task-specific gaze control, such as quiet eye training, on marksmanship performance (Moore et al., 2014) and possible interaction effects of TB and quiet eye training could be interesting in future studies to generate performance enhancement interventions for special forces and experienced shooters. Furthermore, other criteria besides shooting, such as tactical accuracy in close-quarter battle units, could be used as performance criteria. Furthermore, it is essential to emphasize that, especially in extreme stress situations, people fall back on automatism due to low cognitive capacity. Therefore, intensive TB training is mandatory, so soldiers and police officers automatically utilize this self-regulation technique in preparation for or during combat. Last, the effect of personality traits on marksmanship performance should be further investigated. In Buskerud et al. (2022) study, openness, as opposed to neuroticism, was a significant predictor of marksmanship performance. This relationship should be validated in future research. Individuals who score higher in openness tend to engage in irrelevance processing of visual cues, which increases creativity (Agnoli et al., 2015) and could also explain the negative relationship with marksmanship performance. Furthermore, from an aptitude diagnostic perspective, it would be beneficial to investigate how visuospatial ability, psychomotor ability, and executive attention are related to shooting performance and interact with TB as an intervention.

Limitations

The sample consisted exclusively of student soldiers and predominantly young males and is, therefore, less representative. In addition, individuals within the military show a decreased expression in neuroticism (Jackson et al., 2012), possibly underestimating the effect of personality on shooting performance. Furthermore, the shot was only simulated, with a realistic recoil but without firing a projectile. The simulation and lack of a time limit, consequences, and risks will not have seriously increased the participants’ arousal, so the effect of TB might be stronger in actual shooting and high-risk scenarios. In addition, we compared the effects of the TB group with a control group that did not execute a stress management technique. In future studies, contrasting TB with other self-regulation techniques, such as the physiological sigh, could gain a more differentiated understanding of the effect mechanism of various stress management techniques. In particular, missing physiological indicators of arousal level, such as heart rate variability, do not allow to assess whether the increased precision was achieved by a reduction in arousal level or by an increased attentional focus. Also, the variable shooting experience as an important predictor of shooting performance could have been assessed not only in the study year but over the entire military career. Last, we used a back-and-forth German translation of the PFAI (Conroy et al., 2002) in this study, and future studies should use the validated German version of the PFAI (Henschel & Iffland, 2021).

Conclusion

In summary, the core of this study was to examine the effect of TB on shooting performance. The first shot proved the most relevant measure of shooting performance due to the increased difficulty. The initial hit accuracy in the TB group was significantly higher. Tactical breathing is, therefore, a viable stress management technique to increase precision in shooting performance. In order to support military and police servants to meet the practical skill requirements despite limited training time, operational psychology must continuously work to optimize, validate, and train stress management techniques. With this study, we hope to stimulate further practical research to support law enforcement and the military with innovations in stress management and methods to enhance overall operational performance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in “Tactical Breathing as an Intervention to Increase Marksmanship Accuracy” at https://osf.io/5z8da/, reference number https://osf.io/5z8da/?view_only=1b510d98c3474d7ab9348f8d557eccca.

Open Scholarship

graphic file with name HMLP_A_2258737_ILG0001.jpg

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Data. The data are openly accessible at https://osf.io/5z8da/.

References

  1. Adler, A. B., Williams, J., McGurk, D., Moss, A., & Bliese, P. D. (2015). Resilience training with soldiers during basic combat training: Randomisation by Platoon: Resilience training at basic training. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 7(1), 85–107. 10.1111/aphw.12040 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Agnoli, S., Franchin, L., Rubaltelli, E., & Corazza, G. E. (2015). An eye-tracking analysis of irrelevance processing as moderator of openness and creative performance. Creativity Research Journal, 27(2), 125–132. 10.1080/10400419.2015.1030304 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  3. Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64(6, Pt.1), 359–372. 10.1037/h0043445 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Atkinson, P. A., Martin, C. R., & Rankin, J. (2009). Resilience revisited. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, 16(2), 137–145. 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2008.01341.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bauermann, M. (2017, September 07). Polizeiliche Aufgabenwahrnehmung im Kontext terroristischer Einsatzsituationen. Vortrag zum 3. Symposium Rettungswesen. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.mags.nrw/sites/default/files/asset/document/symposium_rettungswesen_2017_vortrag_bauermann.pdf [Google Scholar]
  6. Bouchard, S., Bernier, F., Boivin, É., Morin, B., Robillard, G., & Lucia, A. (2012). Using Biofeedback while immersed in a stressful videogame increases the effectiveness of stress management skills in soldiers. PLoS ONE, 7(4), e36169. 10.1371/journal.pone.0036169 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Brinkmann, N., Fischer, A., von Lüdinghausen, N., Migutin, S., Steingräber, A.-M., Herzberg, P. Y., Lorei, C., & Gorzka, R.-J. (2022). Concept, validation, pilot phase, and evaluation of a resilience training course for leadership personnel in the German military police forces. BOHR International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 1(1), 110–116. 10.54646/bijsshr.016 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  8. Buskerud, J. E., Abrahamsen, F. E., & Solberg, P. A. (2022). Physical stress and determinants of shooting performance among Norwegian special forces operators. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 894169. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894169 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Butler, E. A., Wilhelm, F. H., & Gross, J. J. (2006). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, emotion, and emotion regulation during social interaction: RSA and emotion regulation. Psychophysiology, 43(6), 612–622. 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2006.00467.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Canada, D., Dawes, J. J., Lindsay, K. G., Elder, C., Goldberg, P., Bartley, N., Werth, K., Bricker, D., & Fischer, T. (2018). Differences in stress shoot performance among special forces operators who participate in a Human performance program versus those who do not. Journal of Special Operations Medicine: A Peer Reviewed Journal for SOF Medical Professionals, 18(4), 64–68. 10.55460/I508-07U6 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Cappo, B. M., & Holmes, D. S. (1984). The utility of prolonged respiratory exhalation for reducing physiological and psychological arousal in non-threatening and threatening situations. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 28(4), 265–273. 10.1016/0022-3999(84)90048-5 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Conroy, D. E., Willow, J. P., & Metzler, J. N. (2002). Multidimensional Fear of failure measurement: The performance failure appraisal inventory. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(2), 76–90. 10.1080/10413200252907752 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  13. Correia, M. E. (2018). Fear of failure and perfectionism in sport. Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte, 18(1), 161–172. [Google Scholar]
  14. Correia, M. E., & Rosado, A. (2018). Fear of failure and anxiety in sport. Análise Psicológica, 36(1), 75–86. 10.14417/ap.1193 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  15. Danner, D., Rammstedt, B., Bluemke, M., Lechner, C., Berres, S., Knopf, T., Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2019). Das Big Five Inventar 2: Validierung eines Persönlichkeitsinventars zur Erfassung von 5 Persönlichkeitsdomänen und 15 Facetten. Diagnostica, 65(3), 121–132. 10.1026/0012-1924/a000218 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  16. De Muynck, G., Soenens, B., Delrue, J., Comoutos, N., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2020). Strengthening the assessment of self‐talk in sports through a multi‐method approach. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 30(3), 602–614. 10.1111/sms.13609 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. De Terte, I., & Stephens, C. (2014). Psychological resilience of workers in high-risk occupations: Guest editorial. Stress & Health, 30(5), 353–355. 10.1002/smi.2627 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Foster, G. E., & Sheel, A. W. (2005). The human diving response, its function, and its control. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 15(1), 3–12. 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2005.00440.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Gotink, R. A., Meijboom, R., Vernooij, M. W., Smits, M., & Hunink, M. G. M. (2016). 8-week mindfulness based stress reduction induces brain changes similar to traditional long-term meditation practice – A systematic review. Brain & Cognition, 108, 32–41. 10.1016/j.bandc.2016.07.001 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Gould, D., Horn, T., & Spreemann, J. (1983). Sources of stress in junior elite wrestlers. Journal of Sport Psychology, 5(2), 159–171. 10.1123/jsp.5.2.159 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  21. Grossman, D., & Christensen, L. W. (2007). On combat: The psychology and physiology of deadly conflict in war and in peace (2nd ed.). PPCT Research Publications. [Google Scholar]
  22. Grubish, L., Kessler, J., McGrane, K., & Bothwell, J. (2016). 296 implementation of tactical breathing during simulated stressful situations and effects on clinical performance. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 68(4), S115. 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.08.311 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  23. Hayes, A. F. (2022). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]
  24. Henschel, C., & Iffland, B. (2021). Measuring Fear of failure: Validation of a German version of the performance failure appraisal inventory. Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 2(1), 136–147. 10.1027/2698-1866/a000018 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  25. Hilpert, C. (2014). German forms of counterinsurgency. In Hilpert C. (Eds.), Strategic cultural change and the challenge for security policy (pp. 137–170). Palgrave Macmillan UK. 10.1057/9781137383792_7 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  26. Hoareau, V., Godin, C., Dutheil, F., & Trousselard, M. (2021). The effect of stress management programs on physiological and psychological components of stress: The influence of baseline physiological state. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 46(3), 243–250. 10.1007/s10484-021-09508-0 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310–325. 10.1037/a0031313 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Jackson, J. J., Thoemmes, F., Jonkmann, K., Lüdtke, O., & Trautwein, U. (2012). Military training and personality trait development: Does the military make the man, or does the man make the military? Psychological Science, 23(3), 270–277. 10.1177/0956797611423545 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Jones, M. V., Smith, N., Burns, D., Braithwaite, E., Turner, M., McCann, A., Walker, L., Emmerson, P., Webster, L., Jones, M., & Baker, R. (2022). A systematic review of resilient performance in defence and security settings. PLOS ONE, 17(10), e0273015. 10.1371/journal.pone.0273015 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Kaufman, K. A., Glass, C. R., & Pineau, T. R. (2018). Mindful sport performance enhancement: Mental training for athletes and coaches. American Psychological Association. 10.1037/0000048-000 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  31. Krick, A., & Felfe, J. (2020). Who benefits from mindfulness? The moderating role of personality and social norms for the effectiveness on psychological and physiological outcomes among police officers. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 25(2), 99–112. 10.1037/ocp0000159 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Landman, A., Nieuwenhuys, A., & Oudejans, R. R. D. (2015). The impact of personality traits and professional experience on police officers’ shooting performance under pressure. Ergonomics, 1–12. 10.1080/00140139.2015.1107625 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Lao, S.-A., Kissane, D., & Meadows, G. (2016). Cognitive effects of MBSR/MBCT: A systematic review of neuropsychological outcomes. Consciousness and Cognition, 45, 109–123. 10.1016/j.concog.2016.08.017 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Le Scanff, C., & Taugis, J. (2002). Stress management for police special forces. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(4), 330–343. 10.1080/10413200290103590 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  35. Löfgren, H., & Hansson, J. (2022). Does cal .22 improve marksmanship for police students in Sweden? The Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing, 9(1), 1–13. 10.18261/njsp.9.1.4 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  36. Lotfabadi, R., Granek, J. A., He, J., Jiang, N., He, F., Bae, J., Boland, H., & Burns, C. M. (2021). Effect of guided tactical breathing with Biofeedback on acute stress attenuation and marksmanship performance of novice shooters. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 64(1), 641–645. 10.1177/1071181320641146 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  37. Matousek, R. H., Dobkin, P. L., & Pruessner, J. (2010). Cortisol as a marker for improvement in mindfulness-based stress reduction. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 16(1), 13–19. 10.1016/j.ctcp.2009.06.004 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Millegan, J., Denninger, J. W., Bui, E., Jakubovic, R. J., Ram, V., Bhakta, J., Hiller Lauby, M. D., Mehta, D. H., Sager, J. C., Fricchione, G., & Sylvia, L. G. (2021). A mind-body program for pain and stress management in active duty service members and veterans. Psychological Services, 18(2), 186–194. 10.1037/ser0000376 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Moore, L. J., Vine, S. J., Smith, A. N., Smith, S. J., & Wilson, M. R. (2014). Quiet eye training improves small arms maritime marksmanship. Military Psychology, 26(5–6), 355–365. 10.1037/mil0000039 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  40. Nibbeling, N., Oudejans, R. R. D., Ubink, E. M., & Daanen, H. A. M. (2014). The effects of anxiety and exercise-induced fatigue on shooting accuracy and cognitive performance in infantry soldiers. Ergonomics, 57(9), 1366–1379. 10.1080/00140139.2014.924572 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Norris, C. J., Larsen, J. T., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). Neuroticism is associated with larger and more prolonged electrodermal responses to emotionally evocative pictures. Psychophysiology, 44(5), 823–826. 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00551.x [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Pallavicini, F., Argenton, L., Toniazzi, N., Aceti, L., & Mantovani, F. (2016). Virtual reality applications for stress management training in the military. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, 87(12), 1021–1030. 10.3357/AMHP.4596.2016 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Park, G. H., Messina, L. A., & Deuster, P. A. (2017). A shift from resilience to human performance optimization in special Operations training: Advancements in theory and practice. Journal of Special Operations Medicine, 17(3), 109. 10.55460/23RQ-8OSZ [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Patterson, G. T., Chung, I. W., & Swan, P. G. (2012). The effects of stress management interventions among police officers and recruits. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 8(1), 1–54. 10.4073/csr.2012.7 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  45. Penley, J. A., & Tomaka, J. (2002). Associations among the big five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress. Personality & Individual Differences, 32(7), 1215–1228. 10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00087-3 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  46. Pulakos, E. D., Arad, S., Donovan, M. A., & Plamondon, K. E. (2000). Adaptability in the workplace: Development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 612–624. 10.1037/0021-9010.85.4.612 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. R Core Team . (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. (Version 3.6.3) [Computer Software]. https://www.R-project.org/
  48. Röttger, S., Theobald, D. A., Abendroth, J., & Jacobsen, T. (2021). The effectiveness of combat tactical breathing as compared with prolonged exhalation. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 46(1), 19–28. 10.1007/s10484-020-09485-w [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Rumbold, J. L., Fletcher, D., & Daniels, K. (2012). A systematic review of stress management interventions with sport performers. Sport, Exercise, & Performance Psychology, 1(3), 173–193. 10.1037/a0026628 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  50. Sagar, S. S., Lavallee, D., & Spray, C. M. (2009). Coping with the effects of fear of failure: A preliminary investigation of young elite athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 3(1), 73–98. 10.1123/jcsp.3.1.73 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  51. Saus, E.-R., Johnsen, B. H., Eid, J., & Thayer, J. F. (2012). Who benefits from simulator training: Personality and heart rate variability in relation to situation awareness during navigation training. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(4), 1262–1268. 10.1016/j.chb.2012.02.009 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  52. Schumacher, J., Leppert, K., Gunzelmann, H., Strauß, B., & Brähler, E. (2005). Die Resilienzskala – Ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung der psychischen Widerstandsfähigkeit als Personmerkmal. Zeitschrit für Klinische Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, 53, 16–39. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/82145312/Resilienzskala_Schumacher-et-al-libre.pdf?1647267984=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DThe_Resilience_Scale_A_Questionnaire_for_He.pdf&Expires=1694590188&Signature=IylTLLQ~cekM~y2lWvC~B~VZt3MJ80KqQm-Fm44vrjoF~KgnAnFCvqYZcHGO8HzaUXGYuFlpkDlTV3qO9O~R9U18jkXZ~Ka~6bCqZ-5YzJiBdKuuqwjMmc6Ik02jV7tiDVdTE~PsCl7~gqOVegdCcsr-j-.CPqBmtB7mVG3HKtJd0lKfDnmrpiTYL48HHT6l0bv9LGS5lm~260z1809evAKV90sBkUPIc4ep3GMv1Q5yLjUqxUceMpoOxk-ei7R7BBOw3phEoSpaMzD8yQDSvOSFCMtKiY5sP6WN5exkcVJ70PbL8shheAkMJI~Il2EBly3SMNq3u~-1DQy1UXAn~hg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA [Google Scholar]
  53. Vlemincx, E., Van Diest, I., & Van den Bergh, O. (2016). A sigh of relief or a sigh to relieve: The psychological and physiological relief effect of deep breaths. Physiology & Behavior, 165, 127–135. 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.07.004 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Wagnild, G. M., & Young, H. M. (1993). Development and psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 1(2), 165–178. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Watson, D. C. (2001). Procrastination and the five-factor model: A facet level analysis. Personality & Individual Differences, 30(1), 149–158. 10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00019-2 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  56. Widiger, T. A., & Oltmanns, J. R. (2017). Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications. World Psychiatry, 16(2), 144–145. 10.1002/wps.20411 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. Wulf, G. (2007). Attention and motor skill learning. Human Kinetics. [Google Scholar]
  58. Yasuma, F., & Hayano, J. (2004). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Chest, 125(2), 683–690. 10.1378/chest.125.2.683 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  59. Zueger, R., Niederhauser, M., Utzinger, C., Annen, H., & Ehlert, U. (2022). Effects of resilience training on mental, emotional, and physical stress outcomes in military officer cadets. Military Psychology, 1–11. 10.1080/08995605.2022.2139948 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in “Tactical Breathing as an Intervention to Increase Marksmanship Accuracy” at https://osf.io/5z8da/, reference number https://osf.io/5z8da/?view_only=1b510d98c3474d7ab9348f8d557eccca.

Articles from Military Psychology are provided here courtesy of Division of Military Psychology of the American Psychological Association and Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES