Psychometric evaluation of the English version 14-item resilience scale (RS) in an Australian outpatient population of men with prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Human resilience refers to the processes of positive adaptation and development in the context of perceived significant threats to an individual's life or function. This paper analyses the psychometric properties and performance of the English version 14-item Resilience Scale (RS) in an Australian outpatient sample of men (n = 209) with advanced prostate cancer receiving androgen deprivation therapy.

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from a purposive sample of men. The instrument's psychometric properties were rated against established criteria for reliability (internal consistency), construct validity (instrument dimensionality) and variability (floor and ceiling effect). Exploratory and confirmatory factor-analyses were performed.

RESULTS

The English version 14-item RS demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91). A greater than 15% ceiling effect suggested limited data variability. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that items in the instrument measured primarily as a single factor with a good model of fit (RMSEA = 0.059; TLI = 0. 950, CFI = 0.962).

CONCLUSION

The English version 14-item RS had satisfactory psychometric properties to capture the concept of resilience in an Australian outpatient sample of men with advanced prostate cancer, with some questions regarding detection of variability for ceiling effect. Further psychometric evaluation of the instrument in other adult clinical settings is recommended.