Developing the resilience scale for college students (RSCS)

College students face numerous stressors that have the potential to impair their ability to sustain effort towards their academic goals. Determining the external and internal factors that contribute to the academic persistence of undergraduate college students is imperative. Resilience, the ability to bounce back after significant challenges, setbacks, or adversity, may be an important factor in academic success. The study of resilience spans decades (Masten, 2001); however, not many studies have focused on determining the factors that make up resilience in undergraduate college students. Instruments have been developed to measure resilience, but there is not one that is widely accepted to assess resilience in undergraduate college students. A pilot study was conducted to inform the current study. This study seeks to develop a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring resilience in undergraduate college students. Keywords: academic persistence, resilience, academic stress, undergraduate