THE U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE’S TYPE-A BEHAVIOR REDUCTION PROGRAM:
INTEGRATING STRESS MANAGEMENT IN A SENIOR LEADERSHIP 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Paul T. Harig, Ph.D.
U.S. Army War College
Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania
United States of America

     This presentation will outline efforts at U.S. Army War College to modify or reduce stress-prone behavior traits in senior officers.  Characteristics of officers who receive this program include their inability to relax without feeling guilty, overplanning leisure time; perfectionist tendencies; impatience with delays or impatience with those who respond slower than expected; a chronic sense of time urgency and a drive to work at a faster pace, often with compulsion to overwork; involvement in multiple projects with many deadlines; excessive competitive drive; an inability to be happy with one’s accomplishments; and polyphasic thinking (multiple thoughts, a tendency to interrupt or rush the pace of conversation, and poor active listening).  These stress-prone behaviors have been shown to degrade leader effectiveness, disrupt interpersonal relationships, and may have a negative impact upon personal health.

     The U.S. Army War College program is modeled upon the work of Meyer Friedman and his colleagues at the Mt. Zion Medical Center, San Francisco.  Since the early 1980s, the Friedman group has been conducting group based therapy in seminar format to reduce the Type-A behavior pattern in men and women at risk for coronary disease.  Friedman et al. (1986) dramatically demonstrated that altering Type-A behavior reduces cardiac morbidity and mortality in post-infarction patients.  A pilot study at the War College replaced the clinical intervention and demonstrated a marked or profound reduction in Type A behavior in apparently healthy, middle-aged military officers (Gill et al., 1985).  Moreover, participants who reduced their Type A behavior also exhibited significant reductions in their serum cholesterol levels.  Friedman also demonstrated that there were no negative effects on leadership skills among counseled participants, but there were significant collateral reports of improvements in family situations as reported by spouses.

     Based on Friedman’s initial work, the Army War College has continued to offer the Type A counseling on a voluntary basis to officer students.  These War College students are the pool for senior leadership positions in the U.S. armed forces.  Stress management programs such as Type A counseling are included in the personal development opportunities in support of leader development goals.

     The instructional objectives of the Type A program are:
	Learning to recognize and monitor one’s own Type-A behaviors.

	Understanding the health hazards associated with chronic exhibition of Type A behavior, particularly hostility, and recognizing its negative effects on mental state, interpersonal relationships, and leadership effectiveness.
 	Management of anger and hostility and development of more effective ways to handle event, people, and frustrations which trigger anger responses.

	Enhancement of family skills and options for handling domestic triggers of stress and anger.
   
	Recognition of the importance of maintaining positive control over an inner sense of well-being and control over self-esteem.

     The presentation will discuss the cognitive social learning model on which the Army War College program is based and provide program examples of its implementation.