TBM page 278 to 291 TBM The Enriched Life Scale (ELS): Development, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity for U.S. military veteran and civilian samples Caroline M. Angel, 1,2,3 Mahlet A. Woldetsadik, 4 Nicholas J. Armstrong, 3 Brandon B. Young, 1,2,5 Rachel K. Linsner, 3 Rosalinda V. Maury, 3 John M. Pinter 1 Abstract The U.S. military veteran serving nonproft, Team Red, White & Blue (RWB), defned an “enriched life” as having physical, mental, and emotional health; supportive relationships; and a sense of purpose. Until now, no corresponding measure of an “enriched life” existed for the purposes of clinical assessment and research. The primary objective of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Enriched Life Scale (ELS) in veteran and civilian samples. Our secondary objective was to examine diferences in ELS scores in subgroups of veterans who had combat deployments and service-related injuries. Veteran thought leaders working with social scientists developed the ELS and implemented exploratory factor analysis to determine the underlying dimensions of the “enriched life” construct. One thousand one hundred and eighty-seven veterans and 598 civilians participated in the study. This article describes the development of the ELS, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity. The fnal ELS had 40 items and consisted of fve constructs that were labeled “Genuine Relationships”; “Sense of Purpose”; “Engaged Citizenship”; “Mental Health”; and “Physical Health.” Measures had high internal consistency (α = 0.82–0.94). Civilians scored higher than veterans on every ELS item, subscales, and total score, with small to large efect size diferences noted between groups. In the veteran subsample, individuals with combat experience scored lower on every ELS subscale than those with- out combat experience (small efect sizes), as did veterans with service-related injuries in comparison to those without them (small to large efect sizes). This article establishes preliminary psychometric properties of the ELS—a promising instrument to measure an enriched life. Further study is currently underway to establish confrmatory factor analyses and explore extending its usage to diverse military and civilian samples. Keywords Veteran health, Reintegration, Social support, Sense of purpose, Behavioral medicine, Psychometric evaluation INTRODUCTION An “enriched life” has been defined as having robust physical, mental, and emotional health; a supportive social network; and a sense of both individual and shared sense of purpose, to include positive sense of identity [1]. The term “enriched life” was coined by the U.S. military veteran service organization, Team Red, White & Blue (RWB), whose mission is to enrich veterans’ lives by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activities. The 140,000-person organization comprises 70% veterans and 30% civilians and operates a national program in over 220 American communities. This article describes the development of the military and civilian versions of the Enriched Life Scale (ELS) and describes levels of enrichment of Team RWB military and civilian members. The ELS was devel- oped to measure an “enriched life” as Team RWB has defined it. Veteran thought leaders participated in the development and psychometric validation of the scale to ensure fidelity to the lived experience of veterans. Based on previous research demonstrat- ing variation in psychometric properties of clinical and research instruments between military and ci- vilian samples, it was hypothesized that the factor structure of the ELS would be different for military and civilian populations [2,3]. It was also hypothe- sized that civilians would self-report greater levels of Implications Practice: The Enriched Life Scale can be used to measure physical health, mental health, support- ive relationships, sense of purpose, and engaged citizenship in veteran and civilian samples for research or clinical purposes. Policy: As key stakeholders (policymakers, pro- gram funders, and program participants) seek greater accountability and transparency from programs to deliver on their stated objectives, the Enriched Life Scale can measure key domains of well-being in military and civilian populations to demonstrate program effectiveness. Research: Ongoing research is already being conducted to confirm the current analyses and extend the usage of the Enriched Life Scale to diverse research and clinical settings. 1 Team Red, White and Blue, Tampa, FL, USA 2 Eagle Research and Innovation Center, Team Red, White and Blue, Tampa, FL, USA 3 The Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA 4 Pardee RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, CA, USA 5 Tennyson Center for Children, Denver, CO, USA ORIGINAL RESEARCH © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. This is an Open Access article distrib- uted under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro- vided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com Correspondence to: CM Angel, caroline.angel@teamrwb.org Cite this as: TBM 2020;10:278–291 doi:10.1093/tbm/iby109 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/tbm/article/10/1/278/5257713 by guest on 30 September 2021