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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.

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.

• 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