Abstract
In this study, the validity of the recently developed 28-item Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) was examined. Survey data from a representative sample of 6,723 Norwegian senior high school students between 18 and 20 years of age were used for this purpose. Validity and reliability were investigated by means of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlations with other relevant variables, and internal consistency measures. The results supported the construct and convergent validity of the five factors of a modified 23-item version of the scale, which also yielded acceptable psychometric properties. The paper concludes that the modified READ is a valid measure assessing relevant resilience factors with relatively few items, thereby serving as a valuable tool in resilience and risk-factor research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Collishaw, S., Pickles, A., Messer, J., Rutter, M., Shearer, C., & Maughan, B. (2007). Resilience to adult psychopathology following childhood maltreatment: evidence from a community sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 211–229.
Connor, K. M., & Davidson, J. R. T. (2003). Development of a new resilience scale: the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, 18, 76–82.
Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E. H., & Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): a self-report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1–15.
DuMont, K. A., Widom, C. S., & Czaja, S. J. (2007). Predictors of resilience in abused and neglected children grown-up: the role of individual and neighborhood characteristics. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 255–274.
Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4, 272–299.
Feingold, A. (1994). Gender differences in personality—a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 429–456.
Friborg, O., Barlaug, D., Martinussen, M., Rosenvinge, J. H., & Hjemdal, O. (2005). Resilience in relation to personality and intelligence. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 14, 29–42.
Friborg, O., & Hjemdal, O. (2004). Resiliens som mål på tilpasningsevne [Resilience as a measure of adaptive capacity]. Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association, 41, 206–208.
Friborg, O., Hjemdal, O., Rosenvinge, J. H., & Martinussen, M. (2003). A new rating scale for adult resilience: what are the central protective resources behind healthy adjustment? International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 12, 65–76.
Funk, S. C. (1992). Hardiness—a review of theory and research. Health Psychology, 11, 335–345.
Garmezy, N. (1993). Children in poverty—resilience despite risk. Psychiatry, 56, 127–136.
Garner, D. M., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1979). The eating attitudes test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 273–279.
Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., Bohr, Y., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1982). The eating attitudes test: psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 12, 871–878.
Hammer, T., & Vaglum, P. (1990). Initiation, continuation or discontinuation of cannabis use in the general population. British Journal of Addiction, 85, 899–909.
Harter, S. (1988). Manual for the self-perception profile for adolescents. Denver: University of Denver.
Heller, S. S., Larrieu, J. A., D’Imperio, R., & Boris, N. W. (1999). Research on resilience to child maltreatment: empirical considerations. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23, 321–338.
Hjemdal, O., Aune, T., Reinfjell, T., Stiles, T. C., & Friborg, O. (2007). Resilience as a predictor of depressive symptoms: a correlational study with young adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 12, 91–104.
Hjemdal, O., Friborg, O., Martinussen, M., & Rosenvinge, J. H. (2001). Mestring og psykologisk motstandsdyktighet hos voksne: Utvikling og foreløpig validering av et nytt instrument [Preliminary results from the development and validation of a Norwegian scale for measuring adult resilience]. Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association, 38, 310–317.
Hjemdal, O., Friborg, O., Stiles, T. C., Martinussen, M., & Rosenvinge, J. H. (2006). A new scale for adolescent resilience: grasping the central protective resources behind healthy development. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 39, 84–96.
Jackson, D. L. (2007). The effect of the number of observations per parameter in misspecified confirmatory factor analytic models. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 48–76.
Kandel, D. B., & Davies, M. (1982). Epidemiology of depressive mood in adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 1205–1212.
Kobasa, S. C., Maddi, S. R., & Kahn, S. (1982). Hardiness and health—a prospective study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 168–177.
Luthar, S. S. (1991). Vulnerability and resilience—a study of high-risk adolescents. Child Development, 62, 600–616.
Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk disorder, and adaptation (2nd ed., pp. 739–795). New York: Wiley.
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic—resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56, 227–238.
Mossige, S., & Stefansen, K. (2007). Vold og overgrep mot barn og unge. En selvrapporteringsstudie blant avgangselever i videregående skole [Violence and abuse among children and adolescents. A survey study among senior high school students]. Oslo: Norwegian Social Research.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998). Mplus user’s guide (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén. 2007.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Olsson, C. A., Bond, L., Burns, J. M., Vella-Brodrick, D. A., & Sawyer, S. M. (2003). Adolescent resilience: a concept analysis. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 1–11.
Parker, G. (1990). The parental bonding instrument—a decade of research. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 25, 281–282.
Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1–10.
Satorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (2001). A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika, 66, 507–514.
Sinclair, V. G., & Wallston, K. A. (2004). The development and psychometric evaluation of the brief resilient coping scale. Assessment, 11, 94–101.
Vogt, D. S., Rizvi, S. L., Shipherd, J. C., & Resick, P. A. (2008). Longitudinal investigation of reciprocal relationship between stress reactions and hardiness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 61–73.
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible. A longitudinal study of resilient children and youth. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds. High risk children from birth to adulthood. London: Cornell University Press.
Wichstrøm, L. (1995). Harter’s self-perception profile for adolescents: reliability, validity, and evaluation of the question format. Journal of Personality Assessment, 65, 100–116.
Wyman, P. A., Sandler, I., Wolchik, S., & Nelson, K. (2000). Resilience as cumulative competence promotion and stress protection: Theory and intervention. In D. Cicchetti (Ed.), The promotion of wellness in children and adolescents (pp. 133–184). Washington, DC: CWLA Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
von Soest, T., Mossige, S., Stefansen, K. et al. A Validation Study of the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ). J Psychopathol Behav Assess 32, 215–225 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-009-9149-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-009-9149-x