The Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire: Validation of a Shortened Version in U.S. Youths

INTRODUCTION: Resilience is a factor in how youth respond to adversity. The 88-item Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire is a comprehensive, multi-dimensional self-report measure of resilience developed with Australian youth. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional adolescent population (n = 3,222), confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to replicate the original factor structure. Over half of the adolescents were non-white and 9th graders with a mean age of 15.5. RESULTS: Our exploratory factor analysis shortened the measure for which we conducted the psychometric analyses. The original factor structure was not replicated. The exploratory factor analysis provided a 49-item measure. Internal consistency reliability for all 12 factors ranged from acceptable (α> 0.70–0.80). The revised factor total scores were highly and significantly correlated with item–total correlation coefficients (r > 0.63, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This revised shorter 49-item version of the Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire could be deployed and has acceptable psychometric properties.