Development of an Instrument to Measure Resilience to Misinformation on Social Media: Measurement Properties and...

The spread of misinformation on social media poses significant risks to public health and individual decision-making. Despite growing recognition of these threats, instruments that assess resilience to misinformation on social media, particularly among families who are central to making decisions on behalf of children, remain scarce.

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a novel instrument that measures resilience to misinformation in the context of social media among parents of school-age children.

The development process followed a multistep approach, including item generation based on relevant frameworks, expert review for content validation, and field testing. The psychometric properties were assessed using data from 511 Portuguese parents (418/511, 82.6% women; mean age 41.2, SD 6.1 y). The dataset was randomly divided into 2 subsamples. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted with the first subsample, followed by confirmatory factor analysis with the second subsample. The internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach α and McDonald ω.

On the basis of the findings from the literature review, an initial pool of 18 items was created to reflect key dimensions of resilience to misinformation. Following expert review, the items were refined to a 15-item scale, which was disseminated for pilot and preliminary testing. A 14-item instrument emerged with a 2-factor structure: (1) stress resistance and resilience to misinformation (5 items) and (2) self-control regarding misinformation (9 items). The confirmatory factor analysis supported the model's fit, and both factors demonstrated acceptable reliability (Cronbach α=0.73; McDonald ω=0.69).

The resilience to misinformation on social media instrument demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties and offers valuable insight into how parents engage with and respond to web-based misinformation. This tool may support public health efforts by identifying vulnerable populations and informing the development of targeted strategies to enhance resilience to misinformation within family contexts.