Validation of a Measure of Family Resilience among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.
Although interactions within veterans' families may support or inhibit resilient coping to stress and trauma across the deployment cycle, research on family resilience has been hampered by the lack of a brief assessment. Using a three-stage mixed-method study, we developed and conducted preliminary validation of a measure of family resilience tailored for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (IAV), theFamily Resilience Scale for Veterans (FRS-V), which was field-tested using a survey of 151 IAV. Our findings indicate the resulting 6-item measure shows strong initial reliability and validity and support the application of existing models of family resilience in this population.
South Texas Veterans Health Care System, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
Erin P
EP
Finley
South Texas Veterans Health Care System, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
Mary Jo
MJ
Pugh
Department of Family and Community Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
Raymond F
RF
Palmer
adaptation; coping; deployment; family functioning; family resilience; posttraumatic stress; reintegration; social support; stress; veterans