The Positive Outcome Scale (POS; Appelo 2005)
is a 10-item self-report instrument that assesses
resilience by providing seven items on autonomy
and three on social optimism. Sum scores are indications
of an individual’s perceived resilience. The
reliability (Cronbach’s a: 0.88), test–retest reliability
(Pearson’s r = 0.71 and 0.77 for the two sub-scales)
and validity (correlations of about 0.60 with different
measures for self-efficacy) proved to be suffi-
cient (Appelo 2005). Each question has four
response categories ranging from 1 = completely
untrue to 4 = completely true. The POS manual provides scores for ‘policlinic, low-educated people
with psychopathology’. Table 2 shows the ranges of
these scores for both sub-scales.