Presentation Information
[O-8-04]Development and Validation of the Singapore Youth Resilience Scale-16 (SYRESS-16): A Brief Resilience Measure for Singaporean Adolescents
John Chee Meng Wong1, *Brenda Lio Liaw Wen1, Natalie Cheok Ling Lei1, Liang Shen1, Dennis Kom3, Victoria Fee3, Ruochen Du1, Qai Ven Yap1, Natalie HuiJing Yap1, Muhammad Nabil Syukri Bin Sachiman1, Nicholas En-Ping Sii1, Michelle Si Wan Jing1, Jie Yu Teoh1, Leoniek M Kroneman1, Daniel Fung2, Say How Ong2, Cheong Sing Tian1, Jia Ying Teng1, Tze Pin Ng1, Frank Verhulst4 (1.National University of Singapore (NUS)(Singapore), 2.Institute of Mental Health (IMH)(Singapore), 3.Ministry of Education (MOE)(Singapore), 4.Erasmus University Medical Center(Netherlands))
Keywords:
resilience,adolescents,Singapore,scale validation,psychological assessment
Introduction
Resilience is shaped by sociocultural environments, especially during adolescence—a period of development. In Singapore, where academic and societal demands are high, there is a need for a culturally appropriate tool that can efficiently identify resilience capacities in youths. This study presents the development and validation of the Singapore Youth Resilience Scale-16 (SYRESS-16), a brief self-report instrument designed to assess resilience within the Singapore context.
Methods
Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 3,336 adolescents aged 11 to 18 (M= 14.2 years, SD= 1.30; 54.4% female) from mainstream secondary schools in Singapore. Participants completed the original 50-item SYRESS, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Youth Self-Report (YSR). The SYRESS-16 was developed through item reduction guided by theoretical and statistical criteria. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted, and convergent validity was examined via correlations with the PSS. Known-groups validity were assessed using ANOVA and MANOVA, comparing SYRESS-16 total and subscale scores between adolescents classified as clinical or non-clinical based on YSR Total Problems scores. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha.
Results
The six-factor model showed excellent fit (CFI= 0.982, TLI= 0.975, RMSEA= 0.057). The SYRESS-16 demonstrated strong convergent validity, showing a significant negative correlation with perceived stress (ρ= –.53, p<.001). Known-groups validity was supported: adolescents with clinical-level symptoms reported significantly lower total resilience scores (M= 44.44) than their non-clinical peers (M= 55.69), F(1, 3334)= 249.10, p<.001, ηp2= 0.070. MANOVA revealed significant group differences across all six subscales (p<.001). Internal consistency for entire scale was strong (α= .89).
Conclusion
The SYRESS-16 is a psychometrically robust, developmentally and culturally sensitive tool for assessing adolescent resilience. Its brevity and multi-domain structure support use in clinical and school settings. Importantly, it enables population-based profiling for early identification of pre-clinical population and guides resilience building interventions and programs in Singaporean youths.
Resilience is shaped by sociocultural environments, especially during adolescence—a period of development. In Singapore, where academic and societal demands are high, there is a need for a culturally appropriate tool that can efficiently identify resilience capacities in youths. This study presents the development and validation of the Singapore Youth Resilience Scale-16 (SYRESS-16), a brief self-report instrument designed to assess resilience within the Singapore context.
Methods
Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 3,336 adolescents aged 11 to 18 (M= 14.2 years, SD= 1.30; 54.4% female) from mainstream secondary schools in Singapore. Participants completed the original 50-item SYRESS, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Youth Self-Report (YSR). The SYRESS-16 was developed through item reduction guided by theoretical and statistical criteria. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted, and convergent validity was examined via correlations with the PSS. Known-groups validity were assessed using ANOVA and MANOVA, comparing SYRESS-16 total and subscale scores between adolescents classified as clinical or non-clinical based on YSR Total Problems scores. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha.
Results
The six-factor model showed excellent fit (CFI= 0.982, TLI= 0.975, RMSEA= 0.057). The SYRESS-16 demonstrated strong convergent validity, showing a significant negative correlation with perceived stress (ρ= –.53, p<.001). Known-groups validity was supported: adolescents with clinical-level symptoms reported significantly lower total resilience scores (M= 44.44) than their non-clinical peers (M= 55.69), F(1, 3334)= 249.10, p<.001, ηp2= 0.070. MANOVA revealed significant group differences across all six subscales (p<.001). Internal consistency for entire scale was strong (α= .89).
Conclusion
The SYRESS-16 is a psychometrically robust, developmentally and culturally sensitive tool for assessing adolescent resilience. Its brevity and multi-domain structure support use in clinical and school settings. Importantly, it enables population-based profiling for early identification of pre-clinical population and guides resilience building interventions and programs in Singaporean youths.