Resilience Scale (RS)

Abstract

The Resilience Scale (RS), developed by Wagnild and Young in 1993, is a widely adopted psychometric instrument designed for self-report assessment of an individual’s degree of psychological resilience. This core capacity is defined as the ability to successfully adapt and adjust even when confronting significant stress or adversity.

The original scale consists of 25 items, which are scored using a 7-point Likert scale, measuring positive personality characteristics that underpin effective coping mechanisms and adaptation. For increased efficiency in clinical and research settings, a reliable 14-item shortened version (RS-14) is also frequently utilized, maintaining high psychometric standards.

Keywords

Resilience, Psychometrics, Personal Competence, Acceptance of Self and Life, Stress Coping, RS-14, Self-Report Scale, Adaptation.

Authors

Gail M. Wagnild, Heather M. Young

Purpose

The primary objective of the Resilience Scale is to provide a reliable quantitative measure of the protective factors inherent in an individual that facilitate successful adaptation in the face of stressful life events. The RS was intentionally created to identify and operationalize the core personality characteristics that enable individuals to “bounce back” from hardship and maintain psychological well-being.

This measurement serves a crucial role in several areas: identifying vulnerable populations that may benefit from intervention, evaluating the efficacy of programs designed to build resilience, and advancing research into the mechanisms that protect mental health. Crucially, the RS emphasizes the measurement of internal strengths and personal resources, rather than focusing on external supports or deficit-based psychological assessments.

Construct

The Resilience Scale is conceptually grounded in a model that defines resilience as a fundamental psychological capacity composed of two highly interrelated dimensions, as supported by initial factor analytic studies. These dimensions together capture an individual’s sense of internal mastery and their philosophical approach to navigating life’s difficulties:

• Personal Competence: This factor represents an individual’s sense of self-efficacy, mastery, determination, and self-reliance. It reflects the conviction in one’s capacity to solve problems, achieve goals, and maintain independence even under pressure. Items related to this dimension typically assess planning skills, self-discipline, and the ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks.
• Acceptance of Self and Life: This factor addresses the more philosophical and existential aspects of resilience, encompassing flexibility, the maintenance of a balanced perspective, and the ability to find meaning or purpose. It reflects the capacity to accept life’s inherent complexities, remain optimistic, and possess self-acceptance, allowing the individual to “take things in stride.”

The resulting total score derived from the RS provides a comprehensive metric of global resilience, integrating these two essential components necessary for effective psychological coping and positive adjustment.

Validity

The psychometric validity of the Resilience Scale has been robustly established across numerous international and clinical studies, confirming its ability to accurately measure the intended construct. The initial development phase demonstrated strong content validity, as the scale items were systematically derived from qualitative interviews conducted with adults identified as highly resilient.

Construct validity is evidenced by consistent patterns of correlation observed in research: RS scores consistently show strong positive correlations with established measures of positive mental health, including self-esteem, quality of life, life satisfaction, and sense of coherence. Conversely, high RS scores are reliably associated with significant negative correlations with indicators of psychological distress, such as anxiety, depression, and perceived stress levels. Furthermore, the scale demonstrates criterion validity by successfully differentiating between groups known to exhibit varying levels of successful adaptation to chronic illness or persistent stress.

Reliability

The Resilience Scale exhibits outstanding internal consistency across a wide range of diverse populations and translated versions. The full 25-item RS consistently reports a high coefficient of internal consistency, frequently surpassing a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.90. This indicates that the scale items reliably measure the same underlying construct, justifying the use of the total score as a robust measure of overall resilience.

The shorter 14-item version (RS-14) also maintains a very good level of internal consistency, typically yielding Cronbach’s alpha values ranging between 0.80 and 0.90. Additionally, test-retest reliability—the stability of scores over time—has been confirmed through various longitudinal studies, showing high correlations between administrations separated by several weeks or months, suggesting the RS measures a relatively stable personality characteristic.

Factor Analysis

Initial Factor analysis performed by Wagnild and Young (1993) strongly supported a two-factor structure: Personal Competence and Acceptance of Self and Life. Although distinct, these two factors exhibit a high degree of correlation, which accounts for the scale’s effectiveness when utilized as a robust, unidimensional measure of global resilience.

Subsequent validation studies, particularly those conducted cross-culturally or within clinical samples, have presented mixed evidence regarding the factor structure. While many research efforts corroborate the original two-factor model, others have suggested that a strong, single-factor model provides the optimal fit, especially when applied to populations experiencing significant psychological distress. Despite these variations in factor structure, the consistently high internal consistency of the scale confirms that its items effectively contribute to the measurement of the intended psychological construct.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale (psychometric inventory)

Format: The full version comprises 25 items, and the shortened version (RS-14) contains 14 items. Responses are rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) Strongly Disagree to (7) Strongly Agree. Higher total scores indicate greater levels of resilience.

Language Available: Originally developed in English, the scale has been widely translated and validated in numerous languages, including German, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.

Population Group: Adults and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically utilized for individuals 18 years and older, although specific adaptations exist for use with younger populations.

Population Details: The RS has been extensively applied across diverse samples, including healthy adults, older adults, healthcare professionals (such as nurses), patients managing chronic illnesses, and individuals navigating major life transitions.

Test Methodology: Administration can be done either electronically or via paper-and-pencil. The full version requires approximately 10 to 15 minutes, while the RS-14 can be completed in under 5 minutes. Scoring involves summing the item responses; notably, the standard administration does not require any reverse-scored items.

Keywords

Self-efficacy, Self-reliance, Measurement, Adaptation, Internal Consistency, Determination, Stress, Factor analysis.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Correspondence Address: The Resilience Center, Worden, MT, USA (Based on published guides).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Resilience Scale was initially developed and published in 1993. The instrument is proprietary, owned and maintained by Gail M. Wagnild. Non-commercial academic research often requires securing formal permission from The Resilience Center. Commercial use or large-scale institutional application generally necessitates obtaining a license and payment of an associated fee.

The original PDF containing the instrument can be downloaded here: http://pch.psychopen.eu/article/download/40/pdf. Another PDF source for the Wagnild 1993 Resilience Scale is available here: http://www.sapibg.org/bg/download/1054-wagnild_1993_resilience_scale_2.pdf.

Reference’s

• Wagnild, G. M., & Young, H. M. (1993). Development and psychometric evaluation of The Resilience Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 1(2), 165-178.
• Wagnild, G. M. (2003). Resilience and successful aging: Comparison among low and high income older adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 29: 42-49.
• Wagnild, G. M. (2009). The Resilience Scale User’s Guide for the US English version of The Resilience Scale and The 14-Item Resilience Scale (RS-14). Worden, MT: The Resilience Center.
• Wagnild, G. M. (2009). A review of the Resilience Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 17, 105-113.
• Wagnild, G. M. (2010). Special report on the 25-Item Resilience Scale. Worden, MT: The Resilience Center.

Items of the Resilience Scale (RS)

Scoring Note: Items are scored on a 7-point Likert scale, where (1) is Strongly Disagree and (7) is Strongly Agree. Items marked with an asterisk (*) belong to the Shortened Version (RS-14).

1. When I make plans, I follow through with them.
2. I usually manage one way or another.
3. I am able to depend on myself more than anyone else. *
4. Keeping interested in things is important to me.
5. I can be on my own if I have to.
6. I feel proud that I have accomplished things in life. *
7. I usually take things in stride. *
8. I am friends with myself. *
9. I feel that I can handle many things at a time. *
10. I am determined. *
11. I seldom wonder what the point of it all is.
12. I take things one day at a time.
13. I can get through difficult times because I’ve experienced difficulty before.*
14. I have self-discipline. *
15. I keep interested in things. *
16. I can usually find something to laugh about. *
17. My belief in myself gets me through hard times. *
18. In an emergency, I’m someone people can generally rely on. *
19. I can usually look at a situation in a number of ways.
20. Sometimes I make myself do things whether I want to or not.
21. My life has meaning.*
22. I do not dwell on things that I can´t do anything about.
23. When I’m in a difficult situation, I can usually find my way out of it.*
24. I have enough energy to do what I have to do.
25. It’s okay if there are people who don’t like me.