Development and Standardization of a Scale to Measure Adolescent Resilience- A Study in the Indian Context

The dearth in adolescent resilience measurement scales in India and the need for the same in the context of rising popularity in adolescent resilience-building programmes, culture-specific scale to measure adolescent resilience is imperative. With this background, the current study aimed to develop and standardize a scale to measure adolescent resilience in India. The objectives were to (i) construct a comprehensive scale for assessing resilience among adolescents; (ii) select and test the measurability of items in the resilience scale; (iii) test the reliability and validity of the scale and (iv) establish the group differences in resilience among different groups. The study was cross-sectional, predominantly following the scale design. It was conducted in three main stages- Scale Development, Field testing of the scale and Standardization and Establishing group differences. A total of 1214 adolescents from grades 8th to 10th, belonging to different background, participated in the study. The age group of adolescents ranged from 11-17 years. Cluster random sampling was followed. The items were developed after an extensive literature review. Face and content validation were established. Factor analysis, correlation and reliability tests were used. Nine meaningful factors emerged. The internal consistency was .812; the test-retest reliability was .902, Guttman Split Half Coefficient was .829 and Spearman-Brown Coefficient was .834; all indicating high reliability. The adolescents’ response to the items was found to have a significant positive relation with Connor Davidsons Resilience Scale- 2, Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale and negative correlation with Self-Reporting Questionnaire and Youth Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17, indicating concurrent and convergent validity. Differences in resilience were noted in adolescent girls and boys and based on the background they belonged to. Higher resilience scores meant better resilience.