Odin Hjemdal

A New Scale for Adolescent Resilience: Grasping the Central Protective Resources Behind Healthy Development

Abstract In this study, the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READJ was developed with confirmatory factor analysis and cross-validated factor model. The results show that the READ has sound psychometric qualities and that it measures all the central aspects of the psychological construct of resiliency.

Resilience as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms: A Correlational Study with Young Adolescents:

This correlational study explored the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ)1 as a predictor for developing depressive symptoms controlling for known risk factors. A young adolescent sample (N = 387) completed the READ, the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQ), Social Phobia Anxiety Index for Children (SPAI-C), and the occurrence of Stressful Life Events (SLE). In addition, a subsample of their parents (N = 240) completed a parental version of READ (READ-P). The results indicated that the READ assesses important protective factors that are associated with fewer depressive symptoms among young adolescents even when controlling for known risk factors. All five READ-factors were predictors of depressive symptoms, while the READ-P showed no predictive value. There were no significant interaction effects between READ and SLE. There were, however, significant main-effects supporting a compensatory model of protective factors. The findings suggest that the READ is a significant predictor of mental health and a useful tool for further research examining differences in stress tolerance among young adolescents.

The relationship between resilience and levels of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE Mental health problems affect approximately 20% of adolescents. Traditionally, the principal focus has been on vulnerability and risk factors and less on protective factors. The study, therefore, explores the relation between frequent psychiatric symptoms and resilience factors among older adolescents. METHOD The Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) was completed by 307 Norwegian high school students (M = 16.4 years) along with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised. RESULTS Higher resilience scores predicted lower scores on levels of depression, anxiety, stress and obsessive-compulsive symptoms after controlling for age and gender. CONCLUSION This study provides further evidence that it may be fruitful for clinicians and researchers to attend to resilience factors in relation to psychological symptoms among older adolescents.

Empirical Support for Resilience as More than the Counterpart and Absence of Vulnerability and Symptoms of Mental Disorder

The construct of resilience has been viewed as the direct counterpart of factors jeopardizing mental health, i.e., vulnerability and psychopathology. Any operationalization of resilience, thus, risks lying on the same latent continuum as indicators of mental illness, although indicating their absence. A factor analysis combining items from these measurement domains, followed by analyses of second-order factor scores was performed to test this assumption. A random selection of 1,724 participants (34% response rate) from the general population of Norway responded. All items were discriminated well by their primary factors. A second-order factor analysis extracted two components, which was confirmed on a hold-out sample by confirmatory factor methods. The Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), which measures protective factors, correlated with both second-order factors. Thus, the RSA shared common variance with vulnerability and psychopathology, as well as being unique from illness indices. A hierarchical regres...

Cross‐cultural validation of the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) in Iran

Resilience, as an ability to withstand and rebound from crisis and adversity, is becoming an increasingly popular concept in research on intervention and prevention of mental health. The present study examined psychometric properties of a Persian version of the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), a scale intended to measure protective factors presumed to enhance resilience. The participants were 373 university undergraduate students, as well as 30 pairs of run-away girls and a matched control group. A confirmatory factor analysis verified the Norwegian five-factor structure. All subscale scores, personal competence, social competence, family cohesion, social resources and structured style, had good reliability. The convergent validity of the RSA was supported by showing positive associations with another resilience scale, i.e., a Persian version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Predictive validity of the RSA was supported, as well, by significantly differentiating between girls who had run away from home and a matched control group. The results indicate that the RSA may be a valid and reliable scale for the assessment of resilience protective resources in an Iranian population.

The Resilience Scale for Adults: Construct Validity and Measurement in a Belgian Sample

The Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) was developed and has been extensively validated in Norwegian samples. The purpose of this study was to explore the construct validity of the Resilience Scale for Adults in a French-speaking Belgian sample and test measurement invariance between the Belgian and a Norwegian sample. A Belgian student sample (N = 363) completed the RSA, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25), and Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29). A Norwegian second sample (N = 315) was included in the analyses of invariance of the RSA. There were expected positive and negative significant correlations with SOC-29 and HSCL-25, respectively. The metric invariance was supported, with the exception of one of the six RSA factors. The findings demonstrate that the RSA may be a valid and reliable self-report measure of protective factors and further the results also indicated cross-cultural validity for the RSA in a French-speaking Belgian sample.

Automatic thoughts and meta-cognition as predictors of depressive or anxious symptoms: A prospective study of two trajectories

The purpose of this prospective study was to explore the Automatic Thought Questionnaire Negative (ATQ-30-N) and the Meta-cognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) as predictors in the development of depressive or anxious symptoms. A sample (N = 201) completed the ATQ-30-N, MCQ-30, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) twice with a three month interval. The HSCL-25 measures both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Separate multiple hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the ATQ-30-N was a positive predictor for levels of depressive symptoms, while the MCQ-30 was a predictor of both levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, at follow-up, when controlling for gender, age and pre-test levels of symptoms. However, the MCQ-30 did not predict future levels of depressive symptoms, when levels of automatic negative thoughts measured by the ATQ-30-N were statistically controlled for. The findings suggested that the ATQ-30-N predicts future levels of depressive symptoms, while the MCQ-30 primarily predicts future levels of anxiety.

Resilience is a good predictor of hopelessness even after accounting for stressful life events, mood and personality (NEO-PI-R)

A better understanding of the relation between protection and vulnerability may advance our understanding of mental health. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the incremental validity of the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) as a predictor for level of hopelessness. A healthy sample (N = 532) completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale, a list of Stressful Life Events (SLE), the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25), NEO-PI-R (NEO Personality Inventory Revised) and the RSA. The relations between the variables were explored with correlations and multiple hierarchical regression analyses. The results indicated that the RSA measures important protective factors that significantly predict lower levels of hopelessness even when accounting for age, gender, SLE, HSCL-25 and NEO-PI-R. This study supports the notion that the protective resilience factors in the RSA have unique contributions over and above established constructs of stressful life events, depressive and anxiety symptoms and personality in predicting hopelessness, supporting the incremental validity of the RSA.

The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) 4.0 as an assessment measure for depressive symptoms: A correlational study with young adolescents

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is today considered an important assessment measurement, but still only a few measures assess HRQOL outcomes for children and adolescents. One of them is the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™). This correlation study explored the associations between depressive symptoms in young adolescents and the PedsQL scores when controlling for known risk factors. An adolescent sample (n=425) completed a battery of measures including the PedsQL™ Norwegian version, the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQ), the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for children (SPAI-C), and the occurrence of Stressful Life Events (SLE). The results showed a mild to moderate correlation between the measures PedsQL, SMFQ, SPAI-C and SLE. The presence of depressive symptoms significantly predicted the PedsQL scores for the adolescence, and explained 17% of the variance in outcome for the PedsQL Total Scale. The findings suggest that the PedsQL™ is an adequate assessment instrument regarding depressive symptoms in young adolescents, and can be useful in both clinical practice and further research as an assessment measure regarding childrens mental health.

A Norwegian version of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised: psychometric properties.

The aims of this study were to test the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R). The study included a student/community control sample (N = 1167) and a clinical sample (N = 72) with a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The results indicated a good fit for the six-factor structure of the OCI-R. The mean scores and standard deviations were similar to that of studies from other countries as was the internal consistency. The OCI-R scores were significantly higher in the OCD sample compared to the control sample. All the subscales, except hoarding, were significant predictors of obsessive-compulsive severity, and the OCI-R subscales seemed to be in agreement with the different subtypes of OCD according to DSM-IV. The OCI-R showed meaningful correlations with measures related to obsessive compulsive symptoms. As expected, it showed the strongest correlation with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, followed by measures of worry, anxiety, and depression. In summary, the Norwegian OCI-R showed adequate psychometric properties suggesting it could be a suitable measure of obsessive-compulsive symptoms.