A psychometric evaluation of the brief resilience scale among tertiary students in Singapore

ABSTRACT

Although the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) has been extensively adapted worldwide, work on the generalizability of the original English BRS to Asian populations remains limited. This research evaluated the psychometric properties of the English BRS through two studies with Singaporean undergraduate freshmen (Study 1 n = 839; Study 2 n = 1,068) using Rasch analyses. Seven key areas (dimensionality, item properties, person responses, targeting, reliability, item bias and rating scale functioning) were investigated for validity evidence of the BRS based on test content, response processes and internal structure. Results from both studies consistently support the English BRS as an adequately valid tool to provide invariant interval measures of resilience in Singaporean university students, although future refinements of the BRS may consider additional items at higher difficulty levels for better targeting and distinction of resilience levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience assessment
• Rasch analysis
• validity
• reliability
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vivienne Yi-Yu Liu

Vivienne Yi-Yu Liu is a Research Officer at the Centre for Learning Environment and Assessment Development (CoLEAD) at Singapore Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the impact of demographic and psychosocial factors on student performance in higher education.

Sok Mui Lim

Sok Mui Lim, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Learning Environment and Assessment Development (CoLEAD) at Singapore Institute of Technology. Her research interest in the area of teaching and learning in higher education has resulted in various research initiatives on experiential learning, learning space, use of gamification in teaching, work-integrated study and cohort study of students’ traits and development. She is also an experienced occupational therapist who has been working with children with developmental delay and disorders in Singapore and Australia.