Junior military officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in South Korea are exposed to high levels of occupational and relational stress, placing them at increased risk for depression, burnout, and hazardous drinking. This study examined the effects of a family-based emotional intervention on these psychological outcomes among military personnel. Participants consisted of 59 officers and NCOs who voluntarily enrolled following unit-level recruitment and were assigned to either a treatment group (n = 30) or a comparison group (n = 29) using a preference-based allocation procedure. The treatment group participated in the Thank-You - Sorry - Love (TSL) program, while the comparison group received no intervention. Depression, burnout, and hazardous drinking were assessed at pretest and posttest using validated Korean versions of the PHQ-9, MBI-GS, and AUDIT, respectively. Mixed-design analyses indicated significant time × group interaction effects across outcomes, with participants in the treatment group demonstrating greater reductions over time compared to the comparison group. These findings suggest that family-based emotional interventions may contribute to improvements in psychological well-being and reductions in maladaptive coping behaviors among military personnel.
Sung et al. (2026) studied this question.