Abstract
Resilience is a multi-dimensional construct associated with health and well-being. At present, we do not yet have a valid, scientific instrument that is designed to evaluate adult resilience in Spanish-speaking countries and that accounts for family, social and individual components. This study aimed at investigating the construct and cross-cultural validity of the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) by combining Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and Hierarchical Regression models in a Hispanic Latin-American group. A community sample of 805 adults answered the RSA, Spanish Language Stressful Life-Events checklist (SL-SLE), and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25). First-order CFA verified the six factors structure for the RSA (RMSEA = .037, SRMR = .047, CFI = .91, TLI = .90). Five RSA scales and total score have good internal consistency (scales α > .70; total score α = .90). Two second-order CFA verified the intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions of the protector factors of resilience, as well as their commonality and uniqueness with affective symptoms (anxiety and depression). An exploratory MDS reproduced the relations of RSA items and factors at first and second-order levels against random simulated data, thereby providing initial evidence of its cross-cultural validity in a Spanish-speaking group. The Four-steps hierarchical model showed that the RSA scales are the strongest predictors of anxiety and depression–greater than gender, age, education and stressful life-events. Three RSA scales are significant unique predictors of affective symptoms. In addition, similar to findings in diverse cultural settings, resilience is positively associated with age but not with education. Women report higher scores of Social Resources and Social Competence and lower scores of Perception of the Self. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the construct and criterion-related validity of the RSA in broad, diverse and Spanish speaking sample.
Highlights
Resilience can be defined as positive resources that may be activated in the context of stress to prevent the development of negative mental health outcomes
Our results indicate that the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) is a suitable instrument for research in non-Western settings where social networks are meaningful in facing adversities
We demonstrate that Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) approach strongly complements the Confirmatory Factor Analyses of the RSA
Summary
Resilience can be defined as positive resources that may be activated in the context of stress to prevent the development of negative mental health outcomes. Resilience increases the likelihood of adaptive responses. In Latin America, research on resilience is scarce and focused on youth or vulnerable groups (e.g., survivors of war, refugees, and victims of sexual violence). The lack of valid psychometric instruments to evaluate adult resilience, and the absence of community-based information on protective mechanisms, precludes the identification of at risk groups, as well as the development of health enhancing interventions in the Latin-American context. This study aims to validate the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) [4] in a broad Spanish-speaking community sample of Peruvian adults
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