Convergent and divergent validity of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in children with concussion and orthopaedic injury

• Published in: Brain injury 2018-10, Vol.32 (12), p.1525-1533
• Main Authors: Laliberté Durish, Christianne, Yeates, Keith Owen, Brooks, Brian L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: hardiness; Mild traumatic brain injury; paediatric; psychometrics; validity
• ISSN: 0269-9052; 1362-301X
• DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2018.1502471

Objective. Psychological resilience is an important predictor of outcome in concussion; however, there is no published evidence of psychometric support for use of a measure of psychological resilience in children with concussion. This study examined construct validity of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in a paediatric concussion and orthopaedic injury sample. Methods. Seventy-five children with a history of concussion or orthopaedic injury were recruited from a children's hospital. Total sample and within-group correlations between the CD-RISC (25- and 10-item versions) and measures presumed to be related or unrelated to the construct of psychological resilience were analysed. Results. In the total sample, both versions of the CD-RISC were negatively correlated with self-reported depressive symptoms and general behaviour problems. The 10-item version was also negatively correlated with parent-reported general behaviour problems and self-reported anxiety, and was positively correlated with self-reported quality of life. The injury groups did not exhibit significantly different correlations. Conclusions. The construct validity of the CD-RISC is satisfactory when used with children with concussion. The 10-item version may provide a more efficient measure of resiliency with better construct validity in this population.