The Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents, Psychological Symptoms, and Clinical Status in Adolescents

Abstract

The Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA) are three scales for assessing the relative strength of three aspects of personal resiliency as a profile in children and adolescents. This article presents preliminary evidence to support the use of the RSCA in preventive screening. First, this article examines associations between the RSCA Global scale and index scores and psychological symptoms as assessed by the Beck Youth Inventory—II in a normative sample of adolescents. A normative sample was chosen as screening would presumably occur in a nonclinical setting. Findings suggest associations between psychological symptoms and the RSCA scale and index scores. Specifically, positive associations were found between psychological symptoms and the RSCA Vulnerability Index and the Emotional Reactivity scale score. Negative associations were found between psychological symptoms and the RSCA Resource Index, Sense of Mastery, and Sense of Relatedness scale scores. Second, the RSCA is examined as a potential predictor of clinical status differentiating the normative sample from a clinical sample. Results support the use of the RSCA in screening protocols for the identification of vulnerability that does not rely on the presence of an identified disorder or clearly defined psychological symptoms.