Warfighter Resilience

Area of Science:

• Psychological resilience
• Military psychology
• Special Operations Forces (SOF)

Background:

• Resilience is crucial for military personnel, especially in high-stress environments like Special Operations Forces (SOF).
• Understanding resilience levels and measurement tools is vital for supporting SOF combat Servicemembers.
• Previous research has not fully explored the psychometric properties of various resilience scales within SOF populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To psychometrically evaluate three resilience assessments: Ego Resiliency Scale (ER89), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 25), and Responses to Stressful Experiences Scale (RSES short-form).
• To describe the resilience levels among Special Operations Forces (SOF) combat Servicemembers.
• To compare resilience scores between SOF members at different career stages.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-eight SOF combat Servicemembers were assessed, divided into career start (n=38) and mid-career (n=20) groups.
• Participants self-reported their resilience, history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and total military service.
• Psychometric properties of ER89, CD-RISC 25, and RSES short-form were analyzed.

Main Results:

• All tested resilience metrics showed acceptable internal consistency.
• Ceiling effects were observed in the CD-RISC and RSES scores, suggesting potential limitations.
• Ego Resiliency Scale (ER89) scores were moderate on average and higher in SOF career start Servicemembers compared to mid-career Servicemembers.

Conclusions:

• The Ego Resiliency Scale (ER89) may be a more suitable metric for assessing resilience in military populations compared to CD-RISC and RSES.
• SOF career start Servicemembers exhibited higher ER89 resilience, potentially indicating a protective effect of earlier career entry.
• Longitudinal research is recommended to further understand the development and maintenance of resilience in SOF combat Servicemembers.