Page 28 - JSOM Fall 2022

military service tended to report lower ER89 scores than did FIGURE 2 Career start vs. mid-career SOF Servicemembers when
career start Servicemembers, but ER89 scores between career accounting for total military service.
stages were not significantly different from high total military
service (t = 0.69; p =.494). This interaction is graphically de­
48
picted in Figure 1.
FIGURE 1 ER89 scores between career stages when accounting for
total military service.

36
with supports partial content validation the small, nonsig­
nificant relationships between the ER89 and CD­RISC with
mental illness symptoms did not support content validation of
these metrics, which was opposite to our hypothesis. Because
the definition of resilience is one’s stress­ response capacity, it
may be that the amount of stress that SOF combat Service­
CD-RISC members endure requires all of one’s resilience. Perhaps SOF
Career start SOF Servicemembers reported lower CD­RISC combat Servicemembers prioritize maintaining operational
scores than did mid­career Servicemembers [χ (1) = 4.60; performance above mental health. Future research should
2
p = .03; Figure 2]. This effect was small, as SOF mid­career consider objective personal and team performance measures
combat Servicemembers reported CD­RISC scores approxi­ to test this. It also may be that resilience and negative mental
mately 8% higher than those of career start colleagues. Total health symptoms do not demonstrate as strong a relationship
military service [χ (1) = 3.66; p = .06] and mTBI history [χ (1) as previously hypothesized in this specific population.
2
2
= 0.36; p = .55] had nonsignificant main effects (Table 3).
We also aimed to capture preliminary evidence regarding dy­
RSES namic resilience change via differences between combat Ser­
SOF career start and mid­career Servicemembers did not sig­ vicemembers entering SOF and those who had been in SOF
2
nificantly differ in RSES resilience scores [χ (1) = 0.49; p = service for years, with stronger effects found for the ER89.
21
24
2
.48], and neither total military service [χ (1) = 0.01; p = .919] Based on stress theory and recovery science, it could be pos­
nor mTBI history [χ (1) = 1.26; p = .262] showed significant ited that SOF mid­career combat Servicemembers would en­
2
main effects. Career start and mid­career SOF combat Service­ dorse lower resilience scores than career start Servicemembers
members remained similar even when accounting for total mil­ because of greater combat training and operations exposure.
itary service and mTBI history (see Table 3). Counter evidence was found with the CD­RISC, despite its ceil­
ing effects, with a small effect size. Partial evidence supported
the decay hypothesis as mid­ career SOF combat Servicemem­
Discussion
bers reported lower ER89 scores than their career start coun­
The three resilience scales tested in our study were internally terparts, but only when low in total military service (Figure
consistent, in that scale items were related to the scale as a 1). This effect demonstrated a medium effect size. The SOF
whole. This is considered a measure of psychometric reliabil­ mid­career combat Servicemembers with lower total military
ity. The ER89 did not demonstrate ceiling effects; across SOF service reported the lowest resilience. Perhaps entering SOF
6
combat Servicemembers, ER89 scores were moderate, whereas service without extensive previous military service is a risk
CD­RISC and RSES scores were high relative to possible metric factor for suboptimal resilience. Longitudinal resilience stud­
ranges, with the RSES showing little variability to warrant the ies in SOF combat Servicemembers through their SOF careers
metric’s use. Monitoring overreporting is particularly pertinent are necessary to elucidate the intricacies of these relationships
for resilience because the capacity to adapt well to stress is in­ over time.
herently desired in the military. The SOF combat Servicemem­
bers endorsed different central tendencies for CD­RISC and An unhypothesized positive linear relationship between total
ER89 scores despite these metrics claiming to measure the same military service and ER89 scores was observed only in SOF
construct; further construct validity (e.g., physiological stress mid­career combat Servicemembers which indicates that that
responses and/or objective performance) of both these metrics more military experience (including SOF service) could be
may need to be evaluated. beneficial for one’s resilience. Recently, researchers have be­
gun investigating whether one can build resilience through
We observed hypothesized positive relationships between the the iterative process of successful stressor adaptation (i.e.,
scores on the ER89 and CD­RISC with subjective well­ being, engaging in coping responses that aid performance and/or

26 | JSOM Volume 22, Edition 3 / Fall 2022