Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale among Chinese adolescents

Resilience refers to psychological characteristics that promote effective coping and positive adaptation in adversity. This study investigated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) among adolescents.

A total of 2914 Chinese adolescents living in Chengdu, Sichuan, completed the CD-RISC 1 month after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. They also self-administered the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Children's Depression Inventory, and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders. With confirmatory factor analysis, various factor structures of the CD-RISC reported in previous studies (eg, the 5- and 3-factor models) were examined at the first-order level; and a single factor of resilience was investigated at the second-order level in this sample. The internal consistency and concurrent validity were investigated. Sex and age differences were also examined.

Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the 5-factor model originally derived among US community adults was replicated in our sample, and these 5 factors also loaded on a higher-order "resilience" factor. The Cronbach α coefficient was 0.89. The resilience scores demonstrated expected positive correlation with social support (r = 0.44) and negative correlations with depression (r = -0.38) and anxiety (r = -0.25) (Ps < .001). Male participants reported higher resilience scores than female participants, and younger participants also reported higher resilience scores than older participants.

The Chinese version of the CD-RISC was demonstrated to be a reliable and valid measurement in assessing resilience among Chinese adolescents.