Brief Resilience Scale

Brief Resilience Scale

The concept of resilience refers to an individual’s ability to cope with and adapt to stress, adversity, and change. Assessing resilience is important because it can help identify individuals who may be at risk for negative outcomes, such as mental health problems or physical health problems, and can inform the development of interventions to promote well-being and improve outcomes. There are many different approaches to assessing resilience, including self-report measures, observation-based measures, and biological markers. In this overview, we will focus on the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), a widely-used self-report measure of resilience.

What is the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS)?

The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) is a self-report measure of resilience, developed by Smith et al. in 2008. It is a 10-item scale that assesses an individual’s ability to bounce back from adversity and maintain their well-being in the face of stress. The BRS is designed to be brief and easy to administer, making it useful for research and clinical settings where time and resources may be limited.

The BRS has demonstrated good psychometric properties in a variety of populations, including community samples, college students, and military personnel. It has been found to be a reliable and valid measure of resilience, with strong correlations with other measures of resilience and related constructs, such as hardiness and optimism.

How is the BRS administered and scored?

The BRS is typically administered as a self-report questionnaire, where respondents rate each item on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (not true at all) to 5 (completely true). The items on the BRS are phrased in a positive way, with respondents indicating the extent to which they agree with statements such as “I’m able to adapt to change easily” or “I’m good at finding the silver lining in difficult situations.”

To score the BRS, the scores for each item are summed to yield a total score. The total score range is 0-40, with higher scores indicating a higher level of resilience. There is no established “normal” or “average” score on the BRS, and the interpretation of scores should be considered in the context of the individual being assessed and their specific circumstances.

It is important to note that the BRS is just one measure of resilience, and there are many other scales and approaches to assessing this construct. It is always a good idea to consider multiple sources of information when evaluating an individual’s resilience.

What are the strengths and limitations of the BRS?

There are several strengths of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) as a measure of resilience:

1. Brevity: The BRS is a relatively short scale, with just 10 items, making it easy to administer and score.
2. Good psychometric properties: The BRS has demonstrated good reliability and validity in a variety of populations, indicating that it is a reliable and accurate measure of resilience.
3. Widely used: The BRS has been used in a number of research studies and has been translated into multiple languages, making it a widely-recognized measure of resilience.

However, there are also some potential limitations to consider when using the BRS:

1. Self-report: As with any self-report measure, the BRS is subject to the limitations of self-report data, including the potential for response biases or socially desirable responding.
2. Limited focus: The BRS assesses only one aspect of resilience (i.e., the ability to bounce back from adversity), and does not capture other important aspects of resilience, such as the ability to adapt to change or to find meaning in difficult situations.
3. Need for further validation: While the BRS has been widely used, there is a need for further research to validate its use in certain populations, such as children or older adults, or in different cultural contexts.

Available Versions

The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) is available in a number of different versions, including the original English version and translations into multiple languages.

The original BRS consists of 10 items, with a 5-point Likert response format. It is typically administered as a self-report questionnaire, and scores can range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating higher levels of resilience.

There are also several shortened versions of the BRS that have been developed, including a 5-item version (BRS-5) and a 3-item version (BRS-3). These shortened versions are intended to be even more brief and easy to administer, while still maintaining good psychometric properties.

In addition to the original English version, the BRS has been translated into a number of other languages, including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese, among others. These translations have undergone rigorous testing to ensure that they are reliable and valid measures of resilience in the target language and culture.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) is a widely-used self-report measure of resilience, designed to be brief and easy to administer. It has demonstrated good psychometric properties and has been used in a variety of research studies and clinical settings. The BRS is a useful tool for assessing an individual’s resilience and can inform the development of interventions to promote well-being and improve outcomes. However, it is important to consider the limitations of the BRS, including its reliance on self-report data and the need for further research to validate its use in certain populations or cultural contexts. Overall, the BRS is a useful measure of resilience, but it is always important to consider multiple sources of information when evaluating an individual’s resilience.

References

• Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The Brief Resilience Scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15(3), 194-200.
• Furr, S. R., & Westefeld, J. S. (2010). Resilience and posttraumatic stress disorder in military personnel. Psychological Services, 7(4), 259-266.
• Zhang, X., He, Y., & Chen, Y. (2018). Resilience and post-traumatic stress disorder among Chinese earthquake survivors: A moderated mediation model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(6), 1234.