The factor structure of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28) was originally established using a Canadian sample. This factor structure was not confirmed in a study with New Zealand youth. Given such variability, the current study investigated the factor structure of the CYRM-28 in a sample of Sesotho-speaking South African youth who participated in Pathways to Resilience Study. Method: Using latent variable modeling, we tested six varied models in two randomly selected samples (n 1 ¼ 559; n 2 ¼ 578). Results: Fit statistics indicated that a three-factor variation of the New Zealand model, namely, individual, family/relational, and composite context, fitted best. The contextual composite synthesizes the CYRM-28 clusters that measure social skills, educational, spiritual, community, and cultural resources. Conclusion: The contextual composite reflects traditional African ways of being. Accordingly, understanding the factor structure of the CYRM-28 precedes practitioner capacity to promote resilience in an evidence-informed way.

Resilience, or being well-adjusted despite facing adversity that predicts negative life outcomes, is a process that is scaffolded by resilience-enabling supports. How well resilience-enabling resources support positive adjustment depends, in part, on adolescents’ perceptions of the availability and usefulness of such resources. Currently, there is limited quantitative, generalisable evidence of the aforementioned. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to document how two groups of Sesotho-speaking adolescents perceived available social-ecological resources and how significantly varied perceptions related to these adolescents’ use of formal supports. The advisory panel to the Pathways to Resilience Study clustered participating adolescents into a resilient group (n = 221) and vulnerable, or service-using, group (n = 186). In comparison with the service-using adolescents, resilient adolescents reported significantly higher perceptions of physical and psychological caregiving. Analyses of variance revealed that higher perceptions of caregiving were associated with higher voluntary and lower mandatory service usage. We concluded that relationship-building was a crucial resilience mechanism and would, therefore, encourage psychologists to both prioritise and facilitate caregiving.