Brief Description

The Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) consists of 33 items that assess psychological resilience through six protective factors that help individuals cope with stressful situations. These factors are: (1) personal competence (6 items), (2) structured style (7 items), (3) social competence (6 items), (4) family cohesion (6 items), (5) social support (4 items), and (6) personal perception of the future (4 items).

Purpose

The RSA was developed to measure psychological resilience in adults by examining the presence of protective factors and coping mechanisms that reduce or buffer the negative effects of difficult experiences or stressful conditions.

Scoring Method

Each item is rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Total scores range from 33 (low resilience) to 165 (high resilience). Higher scores indicate a greater presence of protective resources.

Validity

The conceptual validity of the scale has been confirmed through repeated studies across various populations, including patients, university students, and the general population. The RSA has shown consistent positive correlations with indicators of mental health and well-being, supporting its convergent and discriminant validity.

Reliability

Internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) for the total scale range from 0.74 to 0.92. Test-retest reliability over a four-month period ranges from r = 0.69 to 0.84. The subscales also demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency and temporal stability.

Data Analysis and Use

Data from the RSA can be analyzed using factor analysis to confirm its structural validity, correlational analyses to explore relationships with psychological characteristics (e.g., anxiety, depression, well-being), and comparative techniques (e.g., ANOVA, t-tests) to examine differences between groups. The RSA is widely used in psychological resilience and adaptation research, as well as in clinical settings for assessing protective factors in individuals who have experienced adversity.

References

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(2), 65–76.
Friborg, O., Martinussen, M., & Rosenvinge, J. H. (2006). Likert-based vs. semantic differential-based scorings of positive psychological constructs. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(5), 873–884.
Hjemdal, O. (2007). Measuring protective factors: The development of two resilience scales in Norway. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 16, 303–321.
Hjemdal, O., Friborg, O., Stiles, T. C., Rosenvinge, J. H., & Martinussen, M. (2006). Resilience predicting psychiatric symptoms: A prospective study. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 13, 194–201.