Translation and validation of “Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire” for Iranian adolescents

Abstract

Resilience is the process by which adolescents are able to maintain or regain positive outcomes despite stress and negative emotional experiences. Assessing resilience is important to identify adolescentś strengths and vulnerabilities. There are currently no resilience instruments available for Iranian adolescents. This paper describes the translation and validation of Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire (ARQ) for use with Iranian adolescents. The ARQ was translated into Persian and back-translated. Proportional stratified sampling was used to recruit a representative sample of 523 adolescents aged 11-19 years from 38 public and private high schools in Tehran. Total scale and subscale reliability were examined using Cronbach alpha. Test-retest reliability was conducted with 38 adolescents who completed the ARQ twice with a two week interval in between and assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Cronbach alpha coefficients were equal to or greater than 0.70 for all scales, after the removal of one item in the Community scale. Test-retest reliability for the overall ARQ score was excellent (ICC=0.83, 95%CI, 0.76-0.93) and very good for individual subscales (ICC=0.70-0.79). The present study provides evidence of good validity, reliability and test-retest reliability of the Persian ARQ for Iranian adolescents. Further testing, including construct validity, and testing across different contexts will strengthen the evidence. The instrument will have applications in resilience research, educational and clinic settings and could facilitate the development and evaluation of intervention programs to build resilience in Iranian adolescents.