Resilience Measurement for Environmental Shocks and Stressors: Scale Development and Validation for Urban Areas in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

Climate change and weather-related hazards, such as droughts and floods, pose substantial threats to the human health and well-being, especially for those in low-income households and informal settlements. Resilience, defined as the ability to cope, adapt, and recover, is critical for communities to manage these evolving threats. While there has been increased interest in ensuring that programming contributes to resilience, the lack of valid and user-friendly resilience measurement tools limits the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions to do so. We developed scales to measure economic, environmental, and social resilience to environmental shocks/stressors among urban informal settlements in low- and middle-income countries. Using an evidence-based conceptual framework, we collected data from 882 households in coastal informal settlements in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji. We used factor analysis and item response theory approaches and assessed scale validity, reliability, and measurement equivalence. Results indicated good model fit and measurement equivalence for the economic and social resilience scales; we recommend refinement of the environmental scale. We recommend using the economic and social resilience scales in monitoring and evaluating resilience-building programs and policies for urban households in low-income settings.