Assessing Resilience in Older Adulthood: Development and Validation of the Resilience Scale for Older Adults

Abstract

This study presents on the initial development and validation of the Resilience Scale for Older Adults (RSOA). This new measure is based on a theoretical model of resilience grounded in qualitative research conducted with older adults. The scale consists of four resilience protective factors with 11 underlying facets. The Intrapersonal factor consists of Perseverance and Determination, Self-Efficacy and Independence, Purpose and Meaning, and Positive Perspective. The Interpersonal factor consists of Sense of Community, Family Support, and Friend/Neighbour Support. The Spiritual factor consists of Faith and Prayer, and the Experiential factor consists of Previous Adversity and Proactivity. The findings of three independent studies using older adult samples support the four-factor, 11-facet structure of the RSOA. Results also provide promising initial reliability and validity information, and analysis of gender invariance suggests that the factor structure is comparable across men and women. Implications for the applicability of the RSOA in research and clinical settings are discussed.

A systematic review of the measurement properties of aspects of psychological capacity in older adults

“…As with the other constructs of psychological capacity identified in the review, there is a lack of definitional consistency relating to resilience. However, it can be broadly understood as ‘a dynamic process that results in positive adaptation when faced with adversity’ [ 35 ](p. 215). Three instruments were measured in multiple studies—the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CDRS), the Wagnild–Young Resilience Scale and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale.…”

“You Needed to Accept the Situation”: Resilience of Nursing Home Residents in Times of COVID-19

“…The interactional domain refers to "the way older people cooperate and interact with others to achieve their personal goals" (Janssen et al, 2011, p. 145) and includes resources such as empowering relationships with relatives. Social relations are crucial for resilience through the provision of information and instrumental support (Furlotte & Schwartz, 2017;Holston & Callen, 2021;Wilson, Plouffe, & Saklofske, 2021), encouraging coping behaviours, and enhancing selfesteem (Chen, 2020). The contextual domain includes factors on a broader political-societal level that relate to resilience (Janssen et al, 2011), such as organizational resources (e.g., available time of staff members, communication and information policy of nursing homes) (Pendergrast, Belza, Bostrom, & Errett, 2021).…”

“…Nevertheless, there remains a lack of knowledge about which resources contribute to resilience in nursing home residents, and how nursing home residents describe the resources that they consider important when dealing with adversity. Moreover, most research about resources that give rise to resilience is based on quantitative data and does not include contextual factors (e.g., Wilson, Plouffe, & Saklofske, 2021). Hence, more studies are needed to unravel the complexity of the process of resilience in nursing home residents that include resources on all three domains.…”

Adherence to cognitive and physical exercise engagement: a challenge to successful dementia risk reduction and prevention efforts

“…The BREQ-3 Physical (Markland and Tobin, 2004 ) and BREQ Cognitive (O'Neil-Pirozzi et al, 2022 ) assess motivation. Other tools appropriate for use with older adults include the Physical Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (Neupert et al, 2009 ), the Cognitive Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (O'Neil-Pirozzi, 2021 ), the Resilience Scale for Older Adults (Wilson et al, 2022 ) and the PASR-12 (Umstattd et al, 2009 ) for physical activity/exercise self-regulation. To date, no parallel, published, cognitive activity/exercise regulation tool exists.…”