A review of instruments measuring resilience
Nancy R Ahern1, Ermalynn M Kiehl, Mary Lou Sole
1University of Central Florida School of Nursing, Orlando, Florida, USA. nahern@mail.ucf.edu
Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing
|June 15, 2006
Summary
The Resilience Scale (RS) is the best tool for measuring adolescent resilience, offering strong psychometric properties. Other resilience instruments require more research for use with young people.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Adolescent Health
- Measurement Science
Background:
- Resilience is crucial for adolescent well-being.
- Accurate measurement of resilience in adolescents is needed.
- Existing instruments require psychometric evaluation for this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties and appropriateness of resilience instruments for adolescents.
- To identify the most suitable scale for studying resilience in this age group.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search for resilience scales and their psychometric development.
- Inclusion/exclusion criteria applied to six psychometric development studies.
- Data extraction and comparative analysis of identified instruments.
Main Results:
- Two instruments (BPFI, Brief-Resilient Coping Scale) lacked adolescent-specific evidence.
- Three instruments (ARS, Connor-Davidson, Resilience Scale for Adults) showed potential but needed further adolescent validation.
- The Resilience Scale (RS) demonstrated superior psychometric properties and applicability across age groups, including adolescents.
Conclusions:
- The Resilience Scale (RS) is the recommended instrument for assessing resilience in adolescents.
- Further research is needed to validate other resilience scales for adolescent use.
- This review provides evidence-based recommendations for selecting resilience measurement tools.
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