Family Fitness

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) is exploring the holistic construct of total force fitness for individual service members. This exploration provides an opportunity to understand fitness concepts in the context of military families. Currently, there are no developed operational definitions or integrated models for the concept of "total family fitness." This article used the U.S. Navy experience with family programs to begin the discourse of family fitness and identify potential family fitness-related metrics. A proposed definition of family fitness was developed from the conservation of resources theory and a model of family resilience. This article identifies eight dimensions of family functioning: problem solving, communications, family roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, behavior control, global health, and spiritual support. Four potential instruments are identified that could provide metrics for these family dimensions.