Comparison of Resilience Measures in Chinese Adolescents: Based on Item Response Theory

Resilience is an important ability that helps adolescents resist stress from everyday life. While resilience has been measured in many ways, no measures have been developed specifically for the adolescent population. This study analyzed three popular resilience questionnaires, evaluated their psychometric properties using item response theory and explored their applicability. Graded response model (GRM) was used to compare the psychometric properties of the three questionnaires. The results of the item response theory analysis showed that the CD-RISC-10 provided more average item information (AII) than the CD-RISC and the ER89 in the interval -4 < θ < +2.9 SD. At more than +2.9 SD, CD-RISC has higher AII. We also tested the external validity of the three questionnaires by calculating the correlation of the three questionnaires with the total and dimension scores of the Adolescent Psychological Adaptability Scale (APAS). The correlation coefficient ranged between 0.30 and 0.58. The results also suggest that the CD-RISC-10 can more accurately screen participants across a wide range of resilience levels. The CD-RISC is also suitable for measuring very high levels of resilience.