Information and Communication Technologies to Promote Social and Psychological Well-Being in the Air Force: A 2012 Survey of Airmen

In 2012, RAND conducted a pioneering exploratory survey of 3,479 active-duty, guard, and reserve Airmen on their use of information and communication technology (ICT), the association between ICT use and social and psychological well-being, and the potential for Air Force mental health professionals to leverage ICT to meet the needs of Airmen. In this study, ICT refers specifically to electronic-mediated communications such as texting, email, phone calls, instant messaging (IM), social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), video chat (e.g., Skype, video teleconferencing), blogging, online multiplayer video games and virtual worlds, and the Internet in general. Before we analyzed the results, the survey data were weighted to ensure that the analytic sample would be representative of the gender, age group, rank (officer, enlisted), and affiliation (active, guard, reserve) composition of the U.S. Air Force. We also reviewed the rapidly expanding literature on the use and impact of ICT. Although this is not a comparative study of American civilians and Airmen, the results of previous studies of civilians provided valuable background information and contributed to the development of the survey, as well as the interpretation of the results.