Adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse and neglect, have been shown to have longstanding negative consequences on a child’s development and outcomes. Studies have noted that there is variation in how youth in child welfare respond to adversity, yet few studies have examined the psychometrics of measures of resilience in this population. In particular, the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14) is a widely used instrument yet has not been evaluated for use with adolescents in child welfare populations. The purpose of the study was to describe the levels of resilience reported by adolescent girls involved in the child welfare system and to evaluate the reliability, validity, and factor structure of this scale in this population. Participants were 249 adolescent girls, ages 12–19, who were involved in the child welfare system. Interviews assessed resilience, symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression, social problem-solving, and demographic variables. Results indicated that levels of resilience among the participants were in the moderate range. The RS-14 demonstrated evidence of good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Convergent and discriminant validity were established. Confirmatory factor analysis testing a single-factor solution resulted in a weak model fit. A follow-up exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution. Findings suggest this instrument is an appropriate tool for use in child welfare populations.

不良的童年经历，例如虐待和忽视，已被证明会对儿童的发展和结果产生长期的负面影响。研究指出，儿童福利机构中的青少年应对逆境的方式存在差异，但很少有研究对这一人群的复原力测量进行心理测量。特别是，14 项弹性量表 (RS-14) 是一种广泛使用的工具，但尚未针对儿童福利人群中的青少年进行评估。该研究的目的是描述参与儿童福利系统的青春期女孩所报告的复原力水平，并评估该量表在该人群中的可靠性、有效性和因素结构。参与者是 249 名 12 至 19 岁的少女，她们参与了儿童福利系统。访谈评估了复原力、创伤后应激症状、抑郁、社会问题解决能力和人口变量。结果表明，参与者的复原力水平处于中等范围。RS-14 证明了良好的内部一致性和重测可靠性。建立了收敛效度和判别效度。验证性因素分析测试单因素解决方案导致模型拟合较弱。后续的探索性因素分析支持双因素解决方案。研究结果表明，该工具是儿童福利人群中使用的合适工具。