Purpose of the Scale

The Dispositional Resilience Scale [DRS-15] is a modern measurement tool used to assess dispositional resilience. It was also designed to address specific issues found in previous studies (e.g., the lack of positively phrased items).

Analysis

The DRS-15 was developed by Bartone et al. (1989) and originally consisted of 45 questions. Later, improved versions of the DRS-15 were created, ultimately leading to the development of a version with 15 questions (Bartone, 1995). Specifically, this scale is a self-report measure designed to assess three key dimensions of resilience: commitment, control, and challenge.
The final questionnaire consists of 15 items that respondents must answer. To ensure a psychometrically valid and reliable scale for use in Greek research, the back-translation technique was adopted, following the guidelines recommended by the International Test Commission for test adaptation (Hambleton, 2001).

Scoring and Statistical Analysis

The questionnaire is scored as follows: Participants answer 15 questions using a 4-point Likert scale, where:
• 1 = Not at all true
• 4 = Completely true
The scores for each subscale range from 0 to 15, while the total score ranges from 0 to 45. A higher score represents greater psychological difficulty.

Validity and Reliability

The DRS-15 is a widely used scale in health and sports psychology and demonstrates high internal reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha = 0.80 (Bartone, 2007; Madrigal et al., 2016). In a critical review of resilience research, Funk (1992) recommended the DRS-15 as the best available tool for measuring resilience.
However, the DRS-15 still has several limitations. For example, each of the three factors consists of only five items, raising concerns about whether they fully capture the complexity of resilience. Researchers also debate whether the existing questions adequately reflect the characteristics and multidimensional nature of commitment, control, and challenge.

References

Bartone, P. T., Eid, J., Hystad, S., Johnsen, B. H., & Laberg, J. C. Scale for measuring hardiness under stress.
Hambleton, R. K. (2001). The next generation of the ITC Test Translation and Adaptation Guidelines. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 17(3), 164.
Kamtsios, S., & Bartone, P. (2021). Preliminary Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the “Hardiness-Resilience Gauge” in an Undergraduate Sample. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 18(3), 287-310.
Wong, J. Y. H., Fong, D. Y. T., Choi, A. W. M., Chan, C. K. Y., Tiwari, A., Chan, K. L., … & Bartone, P. (2014). Transcultural and psychometric validation of the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS-15) in Chinese adult women. Quality of Life Research, 23(9), 2489-2494.