This report is one of a series designed to support Air Force leaders in promoting resilience among its Airmen, civilian employees, and Air Force families. It examines the relationship between spiritual fitness and resilience, using key constructs found in the scientific literature: a spiritual worldview, personal religious or spiritual practices, support from a spiritual community, and spiritual coping.

Cover: Spiritual Fitness and Resilience
Read Online

Spiritual Fitness and Resilience

A Review of Relevant Constructs, Measures, and Links to Well-Being

by Douglas Yeung, Margret T. Martin

Download

Download eBook for Free

Full Document

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.6 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Summary Only

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.2 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Purchase

Purchase Print Copy

 FormatList Price Price
Add to Cart Paperback70 pages $19.95 $15.96 20% Web Discount

Research Questions

  1. What are the current spiritual fitness constructs and measures in the scientific literature?
  2. Is there evidence for any relationship between measures of spiritual fitness and the ability to cope with stressors?

This report is one of a series designed to support Air Force leaders in promoting resilience among its Airmen, civilian employees, and Air Force families. It examines the relationship between spiritual fitness and resilience, using key constructs found in the scientific literature: a spiritual worldview, personal religious or spiritual practices, support from a spiritual community, and spiritual coping. The literature shows that possessing a sense of meaning and purpose in life is strongly positively related to quality of life and improved health and functioning. The authors find that diverse types of spiritual interventions are linked to improved resilience and well-being. These interventions focus mainly on the individual, but some address the military unit, the family, and the community.

Key Findings

Spiritual fitness can affect an individual's resilience and readiness to perform military duties

  • Being spiritually fit can influence resilience and well-being by buffering stress.
  • Spiritual interventions targeting individuals, families, military units, or communities have been demonstrated to benefit resilience and well-being.
  • Resilience efforts should consider culturally appropriate interventions.

Recommendations

  • Ensure cultural appropriateness in spiritual interventions to support diverse groups within the Air Force community.
  • Leverage existing evidence-based guidance on implementing spiritual interventions.
  • Explore alternative approaches to enhancing spiritual fitness.
  • Consider non-spirituality-specific interventions.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    The Context of This Report

  • Chapter Two

    Spiritual Fitness Definition and Key Constructs

  • Chapter Three

    Interventions to Promote Spiritual Fitness

  • Chapter Four

    Concluding Thoughts

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Air Force and conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.