| Description |
Resilience is a psychological construct that has been defined in multiple ways. However, one of the most inclusive is bouncing back from problems, challenges, and adversity. This process of rebounding from setback has been used as the basis for many interventions in various settings including chronic disease, worksite, and athletics. Interventions that promote the acquisition of positive protective behaviors are more effective when driven by behavioral theories. The Progressive and Applied Metatheory of Resilience and Resiliency (PAMRR) is one such resilience behavioral theory that can provide a framework when creating an intervention. The need for a well-validated and reliable scale that will accurately measure resilience following the Progressive and Applied Metatheory of Resilience and Resiliency is evident as this will allow researchers and practitioners alike the ability to evaluate and demonstrate changes in their participants. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to create a new resilience instrument constructed upon the foundation of the PAMRR. An 8-step framework by DeVellis (2012) was followed to create the Progressive and Applied Resilience Scale (PARS). Data were collected from 701 individuals using Amazon Mechanical Turk in a general adult population in the United States and Canada. This sample was randomly split into two groups. An exploratory factor analysis was performed using the data from 401 individuals. Six factors were extracted that were defined as 1) mastery, 2) self-esteem and confidence, 3) integrity and honesty, 4) intuition, 5) music, and 6) social iv support. The PARS demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach's alpha of .887, average interitem correlation of .262, and corrected item-to-total correlation of .347-.664). The PARS demonstrated good convergent validity (strong positive linear relationship with the Short Grit Scale r=.649, p < .01) and sufficient discriminant validity (weak linear relationship with the social desirability scale r=.352, p < .01). A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the six-factor underlying structure of the scale. Furthermore, the second-order hierarchical CFA reported good fit indexes χ² (df=246, N=300) =488.5, p < .001, CFI = 0.932, PCFI = 0.83, RMSEA = .057 indicating that the six factors loaded onto a second-order total score capturing resilience. |
