Development and Preliminary Validation of a Psychological Resilience Test in Gifted Adolescents

The current research was conducted to develop and validate a resilience test in gifted adolescents by referring to the conceptual teachings of the capability-based approach, as a comprehensive and hyper-realistic approach that defines resilience in the context of individual and contextual resources. Using the convenience sampling method, 451 gifted teenagers were selected from among the first and second high school students of gifted girls-only and boys-only schools in Kashan, Isfahan province, Iran. Firstly, the exploratory factor analysis, using principal component analysis, supported the measurement model, which included three sources of teacher, family, and friends, at the extrapersonal level. In addition, the results of the exploratory factor analysis supported the model that consisted of the six sources of self-esteem, responsibility, self-control, the ability to learn from negative experiences, challenge-seeking, and positive thinking at the intrapersonal level. The results of confirmatory factor analysis aimed at determining the factorial validity of the psychological resilience tool revealed that the first-order twofactor model had a better fit with the data than the other two competing models, including the third-order hierarchical multifactorial model and the first-order multifactorial model. Also, the results of the t-test for independent groups, once the differential validity of the resilience tool was confirmed, showed that the tool was effective in distinguishing between resilient and non-resilient gifted learners. Furthermore, the results related to the correlation between the individual and contextual dimensions of the developed tool, with different aspects of the perception of social support, provided additional evidence for the criterion validity of the developed resilience tool. Internal consistency coefficients were between 0.75 and 0.97 for contextual sources of resilience and between 0.84 and 0.96 for intrapersonal sources of resilience. Furthermore, the results showed that the informational limits of the capability-based approach to resilience could not only maximize the inclusion of intra- and extra-personal resources, which nourish resilience-coping strategies, but also reduce the negative consequences caused by the dominance of onedimensionality in the process of evaluating, monitoring, and selecting leaders.