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.

Spiritual Fitness and Resilience

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

Douglas Yeung, Margret T. Martin

ResearchPublished Oct 3, 2013

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 Takeaways

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.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 2013
  • Pages: 70
  • Document Number: RR-100-AF

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Yeung, Douglas and Margret T. Martin, Spiritual Fitness and Resilience: A Review of Relevant Constructs, Measures, and Links to Well-Being. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2013. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR100.html.
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The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Air Force and conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE.

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