Abstract
Introduction
Resilience in adolescence has been widely studied, yet most instruments used to assess it were created in Anglo-Saxon contexts and often lack cultural resonance in Latin America. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the VOLANTÍN Resilience Capabilities Scale, a Chilean instrument designed to capture culturally meaningful expressions of resilience in school settings.
Method
A total of 3,934 students aged 10–18 from public schools in Chile completed the scale and an established mental health screening measure. The sample was randomly divided to conduct exploratory and confirmatory analyses using methods appropriate for ordinal data and systematic criteria for refining items.
Results
The analyses supported a coherent 19-item structure with four dimensions (Self-esteem, Prosocial Behavior, Perseverance, and Emotional Regulation) explaining 51.7% of the variance. Items with unstable patterns were removed. The confirmatory analysis showed strong overall fit (CFI = .953; TLI = .946; RMSEA = .058; SRMR = .055) and supported a hierarchical model with an overarching resilience factor.
Discussion
The VOLANTÍN Scale emerges as a culturally grounded, concise, and psychometrically robust measure of adolescent resilience in Chile. Its properties make it suitable for school-based screening, applied research, and interventions that require contextually sensitive assessments.
Plain Language Summary
Resilience refers to the ability of young people to cope with difficulties, recover from stressful experiences, and continue developing in a healthy way. During adolescence, this capacity is especially important, as young people face emotional, social, and academic challenges that can affect their mental health and well-being. However, many existing tools used to measure resilience were developed in specific cultural contexts and may not fully capture how resilience is expressed in everyday life across diverse settings. This study presents the development and evaluation of a brief, practice-based tool designed to assess key resilience capacities in adolescents. The scale focuses on four core areas that are commonly observed and strengthened in clinical and psychosocial practice: self-esteem, prosocial behavior, perseverance, and emotional regulation. These areas reflect how adolescents relate to themselves, to others, and to challenging situations. The tool was tested with a large group of adolescents aged 10 to 18. Advanced statistical analyses were used to examine whether the items worked together in a clear and consistent way. The results showed that the scale has a solid structure, good reliability, and performs similarly across different age groups and between girls and boys. Higher resilience scores were also linked to fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties, supporting the usefulness of the measure. Overall, this assessment tool offers a concise and reliable way to capture important resilience capacities in adolescents. Its clear language and practical focus make it suitable for use in research, clinical settings, and applied programs that aim to understand and support adolescent mental health and positive development.
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