Child & Youth Resilience Measure-Revised - Child (CYRM-R-Child)
What it is
The CYRM-R-Child is a 17-item self-report measure of resilience for children and young people. It was developed by the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University and is grounded in a social-ecological model of resilience — assessing not just individual strengths but also the relational and contextual resources that support young people's ability to navigate adversity.
The CYRM-R is a Rasch-validated revision of the original Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM), with improved psychometric properties and a simplified item structure. It is suitable for use in clinical, educational, and community settings.
How is it used
- Suitable for children and young people aged 10–23 (the CYRM-R is designed for this age range; a separate adult version — the ARM-R — is available for those aged 18 and over)
- Takes approximately 5–10 minutes to complete
- Scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree)
- All items are positively worded — higher scores indicate greater resilience
- The measure is designed to identify areas of strength and challenge to inform support planning rather than diagnose
- Permission to use the CYRM-R must be obtained from the Resilience Research Centre (RRC@dal.ca)
The CYRM-R assesses resilience across two subscales:
- Personal (intrapersonal and interpersonal) resilience — individual strengths, peer relationships, and sense of belonging
- Caregiver resilience — the quality and supportiveness of relationships with primary caregivers
What do the scores mean?
Total scores range from 17 to 85. Subscale scores range from 10 to 50 (personal, 10 items) and 7 to 35 (caregiver, 7 items). Higher scores indicate greater resilience.
There are no diagnostic cut-off thresholds. The CYRM-R is designed to be interpreted by comparing individuals with higher and lower scores within a given context, or tracking change over time. The developers recommend a process of local contextualisation before use, to ensure items are appropriate and meaningful for the population being assessed.
The measure has demonstrated good internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha .82 for personal resilience, .82 for caregiver resilience) and satisfactory person separation indices.
Developer
The CYRM-R was developed by Philip Jefferies, Lisa McGarrigle, and Michael Ungar at the Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University.
References:
Jefferies, P., McGarrigle, L., & Ungar, M. (2018). The CYRM-R: A Rasch-validated revision of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 16(1), 70–92.
Ungar, M., & Liebenberg, L. (2011). Assessing resilience across cultures using mixed methods: Construction of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 5(2), 126–149.