Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the 10-Item Conjoint Community Resiliency Assessment Measurement in a Community-Based Sample in Southwest China

Abstract

Community resilience has received growing attention in disaster risk management policies and practices, especially in China. However, few applicable instruments are available as a baseline for profiling and estimating a community’s resiliency in the face of disasters. The purpose of this study is to cross-culturally adapt and validate the original version of the 10-Item Conjoint Community Resiliency Assessment Measurement (CCRAM-10) in China. Our study further investigates if and to what extent community members translate their participation in disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities into perceived community resilience. A Chinese version of CCRAM-10 was generated and applied to 369 participants from a rural and an urban community in southwest China affected by the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. Internal consistency reliability and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test the assessment instrument’s applicability. The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit Assessment Survey was used to establish the convergent validity for the Chinese version of CCRAM-10. Multiple linear regression models were used to explore the correlations between respondents’ participation in activities and their perception of community resilience, while controlling for basic socio-demographic variables. Analysis results demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.85) and satisfactory convergent validity for the Chinese version of the CCRAM-10. Construct validity was also confirmed (χ2/df = 2.161; CFI = 0.977; GFI = 0.971; NFI = 0.958; RMSEA = 0.056; SRMR = 0.030). The regression analysis results indicated that respondents’ participation in DRR activities was positively correlated with their perception of community resilience. This study contributes to the wider collection of disaster studies by providing a tested tool for assessing community resilience in the context of China. Community workers and practice researchers may be interested in applying CCRAM-10 to evaluate the effect of specific DRR programmatic activities for improving community resilience.