Development of Educational Resilience Scale and Examining its Relationship with Educational, Mental Health, and Well-being Outcomes

Abstract

Abstract This thesis aims (i) to develop a new measure of resilience entitled the Educational Resilience Scale (ERS) and (ii) to investigate how the ERS maps onto general resilience , educational outcomes, well-being, and mental health outcomes. seven studies (N total=1,296) were conducted on different aspects of the research questions using cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs. Chapter 2 aims to develop the ERS by testing its factorial structure using two samples. Study 1 yielded a four-factor solution that includes adaptive, contextual, psychosocial, and ecological-competence resilience. Study 2 confirmed the emerging four-factor solution with high internal consistency reliability in both studies. Chapter 3 sought to explore the relationship between the ERS, and the most popular measures of general resilience. The results showed that the ERS was positively related to most aspects of general resilience and personality traits. Chapter 4 endeavoured to test how the ERS was associated with motivation and engagement. The results included that the ERS significantly predicted different aspects of motivation and engagement over and beyond the effects of age, gender, and personality traits. Chapter 5 aimed to examine whether the ERS could predict internalising and externalising problems. The findings revealed that other than contextual resilience, all ERS subscales significantly predicted internalising and externalising problems to some extent after controlling for age and gender. Chapter 6 examined the temporal and longitudinal contribution of the ERS in the prediction of satisfaction with life and mental health outcomes. The results demonstrated that ERS significantly predicted satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety, and stress, but these relationships did not persist longitudinally. These findings suggest that the ERS is a reliable and valid measurement tool that can be applied in the education context. It also can be mapped into educational, well-being, and mental health outcomes. The results have important practical and theoretical implications