# Assessing Health Behaviors as Predictors of Psychological Resilience and BMI in a National and Small Military College Sample

## TL;DR

Military college students have higher physical activity but health behaviors don't predict resilience or BMI as they do in civilian students.

## Contribution

Shows that military training may override typical health behavior effects on resilience and BMI in college students.

## Key findings

- Military college students engage in more vigorous physical activity and strength training than national peers.
- In civilian students, better sleep and physical activity correlate with higher resilience and healthier BMI.
- Military training may diminish the impact of health behaviors on resilience and BMI.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
First-year students at a military college engage in more vigorous physical activity and strength training compared to a representative national sample.In the national sample, higher levels of physical activity, strength training, and better sleep are associated with greater psychological resilience and healthier BMI values and these associations were not observed in the military college students.

First-year students at a military college engage in more vigorous physical activity and strength training compared to a representative national sample.

In the national sample, higher levels of physical activity, strength training, and better sleep are associated with greater psychological resilience and healthier BMI values and these associations were not observed in the military college students.

What are the implication of the main findings?
Promoting physical activity and adequate sleep may enhance resilience and support healthy body weight in civilian college populations.Military training may overshadow the influence of individual health behaviors on resilience and BMI, suggesting that structured programs may interact differently with health outcomes compared to civilian settings.

Promoting physical activity and adequate sleep may enhance resilience and support healthy body weight in civilian college populations.

Military training may overshadow the influence of individual health behaviors on resilience and BMI, suggesting that structured programs may interact differently with health outcomes compared to civilian settings.

Objective: Assess potential associations between the health behaviors, resilience, and body mass index (BMI) of first-year students and compare these metrics between students at a small military college and a representative national sample. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected via an online survey administered by the American College Health Association (ACHA) during the fall of 2022 from first-year students at a senior military college (n = 77) and first-year college students who completed the NCHA-III (n = 7644). Results: Military college students had significantly higher levels of weekly vigorous physical activity and strength training than the national sample. Vigorous physical activity, strength training, and better sleep significantly predicted improved psychological resilience and BMI values in the national sample. No behaviors predicted psychological resilience or BMI in the military college sample. Conclusions: Health behaviors like physical activity and sleep may improve resilience and body weight in civilian college students. However, combining military training with college life appears to have less impact on the relationship between health behaviors and resilience.