From Military to Civilian Context: Adaptation of the SOCOM Spiritual Fitness Scale and Its Associations with Positive Mental Health and Depression in Poland

Abstract

The SOCOM Spiritual Fitness Scale (SSFS), originally developed to assess spiritual readiness in U.S. military populations, measures preparatory spiritual capacity within the Human Performance Optimization framework. This study investigated whether the SSFS could be successfully adapted to a civilian, non-American, non-English-speaking cultural context. Two studies with Polish adults examined the scale’s psychometric properties and cultural validity. Study 1 (N = 1,145; 59.7% female; Mage = 37.64) employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, revealing that while the three-factor structure was maintained, empirical refinement from 17 to 14 items improved factorial clarity by eliminating problematic cross-loadings. The refined scale demonstrated acceptable to excellent reliability (α =.70-.98) and measurement invariance across gender. Study 2 (N = 250) examined construct validity, revealing culturally specific patterns: horizontal spiritual dimensions—Pursuing Meaning, Purpose, and Values (PMPV) and Service and Sacrifice for the Greater Good (SSGG)—showed strong positive correlations with positive mental health (r =.603, p .05). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that PMPV was the strongest predictor of both positive mental health (β =.55, p