Resilience in Physicians: Contributions to the Validation of the European Portuguese Version of the Resilience Scale

Introduction: The aim of this study is to explore the validation of the Resilience Scale in its long and brief versions (25 items and 14 items). This instrument assesses the individual's ability to withstand stressors, thrive and make sense of vital challenges. Material and Methods: The sample included 511 Portuguese physicians. Both versions were validated through the study of internal structure validity, reliability, and convergent validity. The validity of the internal structure was analysed using the principal component analysis technique. Reliability was verified by the internal consistency study. For convergent validity, the correlation coefficients between these versions of the Resilience Scale and other scales validated to measure depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction were calculated. Results: Both versions of Resilience Scale showed good internal consistency. For each of the versions, one factor was retained in the principal component analysis. Convergent validity was verified by significant positive correlations between Resilience Scale (25 and 14) and a life satisfaction scale and significant negative correlations between Resilience Scale and depression, anxiety, and stress subscales. Discussion: The results show the one-dimensional character of both versions of the Resilience Scale and support their usefulness and validity in the physician's class. Conclusion: This is the first validation study of this scale in a group of physicians. Its results are very satisfactory, and its use in this specific group is recommended.