Examination of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC-10) using the polytomous Rasch model.

Abstract

The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale's (CD-RISC) 10 item variant has previously demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties of its test scores using traditional methods (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis), and concurrent validity with resilience-related outcomes, particularly in samples of younger adults. While alternative methods of examining the psychometric properties of the long-form CD-RISC exist in the literature, the short-form measure has unclear evidence of local item independence and a unidimensional structure, which are key assumptions of a polytomous Rasch model approach to examining the measure's psychometric properties. The current study employed a sample of young adult university students (n = 708, xage = 26.43 years (s = 7.77)) on their nursing practicum placements to examine the CD-RISC-10 against the polytomous Rasch measurement model criteria. The analyses suggested a sevenitem variant of the CD-RISC-10 performed acceptably, and omitted issues with local item dependence and item misfit. Effect sizes of the standardized parameters estimated for the 7-item and original 10-item versions of the CD-RISC-10, when predicting compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction, were small (s = −0.24, s = −0.23) and moderate (s = 0.48, s = 0.47) for the respective measures, which suggested similar efficacy when examining the test scores' concurrent validity. The shorter version of the CD-RISC-10 consequently demonstrated generally acceptable psychometric properties for its test scores, and remained a parsimonious approach to examining individual psychological resilience that will benefit from further development. Public Significance StatementThis study examined whether the CD-RISC-10's scores were consistent with the assumptions of a Rasch model, which helped provide further information about the reliability and validity of the measure's scores. The study acknowledged, following some modifications to the measure, that the CD-RISC-10 can provide practitioners and researchers with a brief tool that reflects perceptions of psychological resilience.

Psychometric validity and reliability of the 10- and 2-item Connor–Davidson resilience scales among a national sample of Americans responding to the Covid-19 pandemic: an item response theory analysis

“…Future studies should utilize IRT-based item-level diagnostics of old and new resilience measures to test varying salience of different flavors of resilience among persons responding to one adversity versus another. High ceiling effects reported in past studies such as Heritage et al [ 46 ], now corroborated by our findings, call for fresh, innovative measures incorporating items that conceptually reflect and psychometrically capture the sentiments of highly resilient persons more efficiently than CD-RISC scales do.…”

“…In contrast, Rasch analyses by Pulido-Martos et al (2020) on a sample of Spanish citizens ( N = 1011) confirmed CD-RISC-10’s unifactorial structure [ 45 ]. Nevertheless, Heritage et al (2021)’s Rasch rating scale model study among Canadian/Australian nursing students ( N = 708) did not support a unifactorial model, leading authors to propose a 7-item abbreviation [ 46 ]. Despite extant literature suggesting the graded response model (GRM) [ 47 , 48 ] is a superior approach for Likert scales [ 49 , 50 ], most IRT analyses of the CD-RISC-10 apply Rasch models.…”

“…Despite extant literature suggesting the graded response model (GRM) [ 47 , 48 ] is a superior approach for Likert scales [ 49 , 50 ], most IRT analyses of the CD-RISC-10 apply Rasch models. Heritage et al (2021) advocated for using the GRM in future studies [ 46 ]. Lim et al (2019)’s GRM study among older adults awaiting knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis ( N = 700) supported the CD-RISC-10’s unifactorial structure but their report provided scanty details [ 51 ].…”

Validation of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 in South Africa: Item Response Theory and Classical Test Theory

“…and the method of assessment. 12 A critical review of scales that are most frequently used for the assessment of resilience identified the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) 13 as the most useful and robust of these measures. 11 The CD-RISC comprises 25 items that are scored on a 5-point scale.…”

“…24,25,27 However, sufficient evidence confirming the instrument's item independence and unidimensional structure remains lacking. 12 For this reason, 12 Heritage et al used the Rasch model approach to analyze the properties of the CD-RISC-10 and proposed a seven-item version of the scale. The Rasch model has certain advantages over other approaches including its ability to precisely predict the mathematical association between an item and a latent trait to be measured.…”