Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans
The Enriched Life Scale (ELS) is a 40-item measure developed by the military veteran service organization, Team Red, White & Blue (RWB), to systematically capture and quantify the lived experiences of military veterans transitioning to civilian life. As Team RWB’s mission is to “enrich veter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02181/full |
| _version_ | 1818026103547101184 |
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| author | Caroline M. Angel Caroline M. Angel Caroline M. Angel Mahlet A. Woldetsadik Justin T. McDaniel Nicholas J. Armstrong Brandon B. Young Brandon B. Young Brandon B. Young Rachel K. Linsner John M. Pinter |
| author_facet | Caroline M. Angel Caroline M. Angel Caroline M. Angel Mahlet A. Woldetsadik Justin T. McDaniel Nicholas J. Armstrong Brandon B. Young Brandon B. Young Brandon B. Young Rachel K. Linsner John M. Pinter |
| author_sort | Caroline M. Angel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Enriched Life Scale (ELS) is a 40-item measure developed by the military veteran service organization, Team Red, White & Blue (RWB), to systematically capture and quantify the lived experiences of military veterans transitioning to civilian life. As Team RWB’s mission is to “enrich veterans’ lives,” veterans who conceived of and co-developed the ELS as a psychometric instrument defined what an “enriched life” would entail. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the ELS revealed a five-factor structure capturing the domains of: physical health, mental health, genuine relationships, sense of purpose, and engaged citizenship. The goal of the current study was to use confirmatory factor analysis to validate the factor structure of the ELS in a sample of veterans not affiliated with Team RWB. We also sought to explore convergent validity with the Military to Civilian Questionnaire, a measure of military to civilian reintegration challenges. Five hundred and twenty-nine veterans participated in the study. We estimated three models, one-factor, four-factor, and five-factor model via maximum likelihood estimation with robust Huber-White standard errors. The five-factor model showed the best fit to the data (RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.90, TLI = 0.90, SRMR = 0.06). Additionally, the five-factor model demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity, as well as internal consistency reliability (genuine relationships, α = 0.90; sense of purpose, α = 0.93; engaged citizenship, α = 0.89; mental health, α = 0.88; and physical health, α = 0.78). Overall, the ELS is a valid and reliable measure of veteran enrichment and could potentially be used in conjunction with diagnostic instruments that capture strain-related transition challenges (to include mental health disorders) to capture post-military service wellbeing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:26:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3c0b17da2d44836a18c45fbeb0260f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:26:41Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3c0b17da2d44836a18c45fbeb0260f72022-12-22T02:02:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-10-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02181461374Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military VeteransCaroline M. Angel0Caroline M. Angel1Caroline M. Angel2Mahlet A. Woldetsadik3Justin T. McDaniel4Nicholas J. Armstrong5Brandon B. Young6Brandon B. Young7Brandon B. Young8Rachel K. Linsner9John M. Pinter10Team Red, White & Blue, Alexandria, VA, United StatesReintegrative Health Initiative, Westfield, NJ, United StatesInstitute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United StatesPardee RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesDepartment of Public Health and Recreation Professions, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, United StatesInstitute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United StatesTeam Red, White & Blue, Alexandria, VA, United StatesReintegrative Health Initiative, Westfield, NJ, United StatesTennyson Center for Children, Denver, CO, United StatesInstitute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United StatesTeam Red, White & Blue, Alexandria, VA, United StatesThe Enriched Life Scale (ELS) is a 40-item measure developed by the military veteran service organization, Team Red, White & Blue (RWB), to systematically capture and quantify the lived experiences of military veterans transitioning to civilian life. As Team RWB’s mission is to “enrich veterans’ lives,” veterans who conceived of and co-developed the ELS as a psychometric instrument defined what an “enriched life” would entail. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the ELS revealed a five-factor structure capturing the domains of: physical health, mental health, genuine relationships, sense of purpose, and engaged citizenship. The goal of the current study was to use confirmatory factor analysis to validate the factor structure of the ELS in a sample of veterans not affiliated with Team RWB. We also sought to explore convergent validity with the Military to Civilian Questionnaire, a measure of military to civilian reintegration challenges. Five hundred and twenty-nine veterans participated in the study. We estimated three models, one-factor, four-factor, and five-factor model via maximum likelihood estimation with robust Huber-White standard errors. The five-factor model showed the best fit to the data (RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.90, TLI = 0.90, SRMR = 0.06). Additionally, the five-factor model demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity, as well as internal consistency reliability (genuine relationships, α = 0.90; sense of purpose, α = 0.93; engaged citizenship, α = 0.89; mental health, α = 0.88; and physical health, α = 0.78). Overall, the ELS is a valid and reliable measure of veteran enrichment and could potentially be used in conjunction with diagnostic instruments that capture strain-related transition challenges (to include mental health disorders) to capture post-military service wellbeing.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02181/fullEnriched Life Scaleconfirmatory factor analysisveteranwellbeingTeam RedWhite & Blue |
| spellingShingle | Caroline M. Angel Caroline M. Angel Caroline M. Angel Mahlet A. Woldetsadik Justin T. McDaniel Nicholas J. Armstrong Brandon B. Young Brandon B. Young Brandon B. Young Rachel K. Linsner John M. Pinter Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans Frontiers in Psychology Enriched Life Scale confirmatory factor analysis veteran wellbeing Team Red White & Blue |
| title | Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans |
| title_full | Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans |
| title_fullStr | Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans |
| title_short | Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Enriched Life Scale Among US Military Veterans |
| title_sort | confirmatory factor analysis of the enriched life scale among us military veterans |
| topic | Enriched Life Scale confirmatory factor analysis veteran wellbeing Team Red White & Blue |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02181/full |
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