Development and testing of the Resourcefulness Scale for Older Adults

Resourcefulness is the ability to independently perform daily tasks (personal resourcefulness) and to seek help from others when unable to function independently (social resourcefulness). The 2 forms of resourcefulness are theoretically related, yet no current measure captures both simultaneously. This 2-phase study involved development and testing of a Resourcefulness Scale for elders from existing measures of personal and social resourcefulness. Data from 2 studies of 451 chronically ill elders were randomly split: the measure was developed in phase 1 and validated in phase 2. The new Resourcefulness Scale has acceptable internal consistency (a = .85). Two correlated subscales reflecting personal and social resourcefulness (r = .41) were confirmed. The Resourcefulness Scale has potential usefulness for older adults as well as younger and middle-aged adults.