A - 23 Comparison of the Connor-Davidson and Brief Resilience Scale in Adolescents With Concussion

Resilience has been shown to affect concussion recovery, and both the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) are validated measures of resilience. They differ, however, in their approach to assessing this construct. Examining associations between the CD-RISC, BRS, and established measures of emotional symptoms in adolescents following concussion may better elucidate the nuances of their emotional response to concussion.

Eighty-three participants aged 12–17 (m = 14.6) were evaluated within one month of concussion (±3 days) as part of the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education for Youth (CARE4Kids) and North Texas Concussion Registry (ConTex) studies. Participants completed the CD-RISC, BRS, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) at initial visit. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was used to determine the relationship between scores on these measures.

Pearson correlations between the CD-RISC and BRS (r = 0.288, p = 0.008), and the BRS and GAD-7 (r = −0.260, p = 0.021) were modest but significant. Correlations between the CD-RISC and the GAD-7 and PHQ-8 (r = −0.070, p = 0.541; r = −0.082, p = 0.465), and the BRS and the PHQ-8 (r = −0.148, p = 0.188) were not significant.

The construct of resilience as assessed by the BRS, but not the CD-RISC, exhibited a modest inverse relationship with anxiety symptoms. Although the two measures overlapped marginally, these findings suggested a difference between the two measures in their ability to evaluate resilience. These results highlight the value of measuring resilience when investigating the emotional response to concussion and emphasize the need for future research to more thoroughly explore the utility of available measures.