Development and Initial Validation of an Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale in Military Personnel

Abstract

Personnel in many professions must remain “ready” to perform diverse activities. Managing individual and collective capability is a common concern for leadership and decision makers. Typical existing approaches for monitoring readiness involve keeping detailed records of training, health and equipment maintenance, or – less commonly – data from wearable devices that can be difficult to interpret as well as raising privacy concerns. A widely applicable, simple psychometric measure of perceived readiness would be invaluable in generating rapid evaluations of current capability directly from personnel. To develop this measure, we conducted exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 770 Australian military personnel. The 32-item Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale (ARMS) demonstrated good model fit, and comprised nine factors: overall readiness; physical readiness; physical fatigue; cognitive readiness; cognitive fatigue; threat-challenge (i.e., emotional/coping) readiness; skills-and-training readiness; group-team readiness, and equipment readiness. Readiness factors were negatively correlated with recent stress, current negative affect and distress, and positively correlated with resilience, wellbeing, current positive affect and a supervisor’s rating of solider readiness. The development of the ARMS facilitates a range of new research opportunities: enabling quick, simple and easily interpreted assessment of individual and group readiness.

Suicide Ideation, Plans, and Attempts Among Military Veterans vs Nonveterans With Disability

“…It had been argued that invisible wounds of war, such as posttraumatic stress disorder or major depressive disorder, are highly stigmatized conditions and connote weakness . Thus, more visible or physical wounds, such as physical disabilities, may be better tolerated by a population whose physical fitness is intricately linked with readiness and ability . The current investigation did not specifically compare mental disability with physical disability, so this interpretation should be considered with caution.…”

“… 37 Thus, more visible or physical wounds, such as physical disabilities, may be better tolerated by a population whose physical fitness is intricately linked with readiness and ability. 38 The current investigation did not specifically compare mental disability with physical disability, so this interpretation should be considered with caution.…”

Exploring person-specific associations of situational motivation and readiness with leisure-time physical activity effort and experience

“…Items are rated on 7-point Likert scale (0 = does not apply at all; 6 = fully applies). Prior research has supported the psychometric soundness of items [ 34 , 35 ]. The ARMS was administered at each event-contingent pre-activity survey.…”

Does Wearable-Measured Heart Rate Variability During Sleep Predict Perceived Morning Mental and Physical Fitness?

“…Perceived physical fitness was assessed based on the item "I feel physically fit", whereas perceived mental fitness was inquired via the item "I feel mentally fit". These items were originally selfcomposed, but align well with items of the Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale (items 5 and 13) that has since then been validated for the use in military personnel (Keegan et al, 2021). Finally, the participants already were used to distinguish between mental and physical fitness based on their professional training and functioning.…”

“…For instance, by assessing how perceived measures of mental and physical fitness relate to objective observations of fitness, as well as general health and functioning, and if it can be improved through training. Although the short EMA-questionnaires that were used in this study are likely preferable for longer and more intensive (daily) data collection, future studies with a different design could also consider using more detailed questionnaires, for instance (a subscale of) the recently introduced and validated Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale that also specifically differentiates between mental and physical readiness (Keegan et al, 2021). Future studies in target populations with less privacy-related limitations should also include the analysis of whether the strength of these associations differs between individuals, for instance based on personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender, function-group).…”