New Perseverance Scale for Adolescents: Its Development and Testing

Abstract

<p>The study presents a new questionnaire Perseverance Scale for Adolescents . It was developed on the Russian context and represents perseverance multidimensionality. The Perseverance Scale contains three subscales: Perseverance in achieving goals, Perseverance in overcoming difficulties, and Inappropriate Persistence. Adolescents from different regions of the Russian Federation were recruited for the study (N=1,718; age from 12 to 18 years; average age 14±1 years; 53,8% female). Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the three-factor model to the data (GFI=0,95; IFI=0,94; CFI=0,94; SRMR=0,048; RMSEA=0,078 [0,072; 0,083]). The validity of the Perseverance Scale is confirmed by the expected correlations with the subscales of the “Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale” (MSLSS) and “Multidimensional School Engagement Scale”. The validity of the New Perseverance Scale is also verified by the differences obtained between groups of students with different academic achievements. We have noticed higher rates of perseverance in achieving goals and perseverance in overcoming difficulties among well-performing students. There was no difference in Inappropriate Persistence. The Perseverance Scale can be used for individual research to assist in psychological practice.</p>