Personality, Leadership, and Psychological Distress in First-Year Military Cadets: The Mediating Role of Resilience and the Moderator Role of Gender

Abstract The initial phase of military training constitutes a highly demanding and strenuous period during which individual differences may shape psychological adjustment. This study examined the associations between personality traits, leadership characteristics, and psychological distress among first-year cadets at the Hellenic Air Force Academy ( N  = 92; 67.4% male), assessed at the end of their basic military training. Participants completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25), the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44), a self-explanatory leadership questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) along with sociodemographic data. Mediation analyses (5,000-resample bootstrap) tested whether resilience mediated the associations between each Big Five trait and leadership and distress outcomes. Moderation analyses examined gender as a moderator of these associations, with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction applied throughout. Female cadets reported significantly higher total distress than male ones (Hedges' g  = − 0.60 to − 1.10), with no differences in personality traits, resilience, or leadership. Resilience significantly predicted all mental distress outcomes (β = −0.201 to − 0.281). Significant indirect effects through resilience were observed for agreeableness predicting total distress ( ab  = − 0.066, 95% CI [− 0.224, − 0.004]) and stress ( ab  = − 0.069, CI [− 0.204, − 0.009]), and for leadership predicting total distress ( ab  = − 0.109, CI [− 0.291, − 0.007]) and stress (ab = − 0.108, CI [− 0.263, − 0.021]). Neuroticism and conscientiousness operated through direct pathways without significant resilience mediation. Gender moderated the associations of neuroticism (stronger in males; f² = .047–.072) and leadership (i.e., protective in males, positive trend in females; f² = .054–.085) with distress across multiple outcomes. Agreeableness and conscientiousness had a protective role across both genders. These findings highlight resilience as a modifiable mediating resource for specific adaptive traits, and gender as a key moderator of how personality and leadership relate to psychological distress in early military training.