Mood effects of large group counseling among Navy recruits

Investigated the effects of a group counseling program introduced into the US Navy basic military training curriculum. A modified version of the Mood Adjective Checklist consisting of 40 items was administered to 1,196 male Navy recruits at 4 different times during basic training. 5 stable mood factors-anger, activity, depression, fatigue, and pleasure-were found. With the exception of anger, negative moods declined and positive moods increased over the course of training for both control and experimental groups. The experimental group, however, consisting of recruits who had received group counseling sessions, reported significantly less anger and significantly more pleasure than the control group. It is concluded that counseling of large groups of men can significantly reduce feelings of anger and enhance feelings of pleasure among Navy recruits.