Development and validation of a self-report adaptability measure for the military remote operations community

Building on emerging literature, a new self-report inventory was developed to assess multiple psychological attributes relevant to adaptability in remote warriors. Literature search backed by surveys of military and psychological experts identified 32 attributes for self-report scale development. Items were sorted reliably into targeted dimensions (67.5% vs. 1.6% random) in support of content validity. Item analysis of responses from 255 U.S. Air Force remote operations Airmen (74.5% sensor operators) narrowed the set to 25 empirically distinct scales demonstrating overall strong internal consistency reliability (<i>Mdn</i> alpha = .83), unidimensionality per scale, convergent and discriminant validity in relations with the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (e.g. Stress Tolerance <i>r</i> = −.50 with NEO Neuroticism and <i>r</i> = .00 with NEO Openness), and criterion validity in relations with burnout (e.g., Coping Flexibility <i>r</i> = −.43 with Exhaustion) and psychological distress (e.g., Hardiness <i>r</i> = −.62). Results support the continued development of the measure for advancing understanding of the psychology of remote warfare and engagement in similarly demanding occupations.