Predictive validity and correlates of self-assessed resilience among U.S. Army soldiers

Laura Campbell-Sills; Ronald C Kessler; Robert J Ursano; Xiaoying Sun; Charles T Taylor; Steven G Heeringa; Matthew K Nock; Nancy A Sampson; Sonia Jain; Murray B Stein

doi:10.1002/da.22694

Predictive validity and correlates of self-assessed resilience among U.S. Army soldiers

Depress Anxiety. 2018 Feb;35(2):122-131. doi: 10.1002/da.22694. Epub 2017 Nov 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
² Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴ Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁵ Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁷ VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: Self-assessment of resilience could prove valuable to military and other organizations whose personnel confront foreseen stressors. We evaluated the validity of self-assessed resilience among U.S. Army soldiers, including whether predeployment perceived resilience predicted postdeployment emotional disorder.

Methods: Resilience was assessed via self-administered questionnaire among new soldiers reporting for basic training (N = 35,807) and experienced soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan (N = 8,558). Concurrent validity of self-assessed resilience was evaluated among recruits by estimating its association with past-month emotional disorder. Predictive validity was examined among 3,526 experienced soldiers with no lifetime emotional disorder predeployment. Predictive models estimated associations of predeployment resilience with incidence of emotional disorder through 9 months postdeployment and with marked improvement in coping at 3 months postdeployment. Weights-adjusted regression models incorporated stringent controls for risk factors.

Results: Soldiers characterized themselves as very resilient on average [M = 14.34, SD = 4.20 (recruits); M = 14.75, SD = 4.31 (experienced soldiers); theoretical range = 0-20]. Demographic characteristics exhibited only modest associations with resilience, while severity of childhood maltreatment was negatively associated with resilience in both samples. Among recruits, resilience was inversely associated with past-month emotional disorder [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.62-0.68, P < .0005 (per standard score increase)]. Among deployed soldiers, greater predeployment resilience was associated with decreased incidence of emotional disorder (AOR = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.84-0.98; P = .016) and increased odds of improved coping (AOR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.24-1.49; P < .0005) postdeployment.

Conclusions: Findings supported validity of self-assessed resilience among soldiers, although its predictive effect on incidence of emotional disorder was modest. In conjunction with assessment of known risk factors, measurement of resilience could help predict adaptation to foreseen stressors like deployment.

Keywords: coping skills; military personnel; psychological resilience; stress; stress disorders.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Psychological / physiology*
Adult
Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / psychology*
Affective Symptoms / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Military Personnel / psychology*
Reproducibility of Results
Resilience, Psychological*
Self-Assessment*
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
United States
Young Adult

Grants and funding

U01 MH087981/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States