A scale development study for determining the resilience of the elderly in disasters

The elderly are among the groups most affected by disasters in societies due to their vulnerability. This study was prepared to develop a scale that can validly and reliably assess the resilience of the elderly in disasters. For this purpose, an item pool consisting of 60 items was created based on the vulnerability of the elderly in disasters. Content validity of the items was conducted using the Delphi method. As a result of the 2nd Delphi session, a draft scale form consisting of 49 items was created. The draft scale form was applied to 491 people aged 65 and over between May 25 and July 20, 2023. The data obtained in the study were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 22 software. According to the item-total collinearity coefficient, no item was removed from the draft scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the construct validity of the scale. As a result of the analysis, a 4-factor structure was obtained and the factors were named as "Coping Capacity", "Constraint Status", "Economic Status" and "Risk Protection and Preparedness". Cronbach's Alpha value was calculated as 0.925 (sub-dimensions > 0.804) and thus the scale was found to be a highly reliable scale. The mean score of the scale consisting of 30 items and 4 sub-dimensions was calculated as 76.04±18.91. All these results revealed that the Elderly Disaster Resilience Scale can be used as a valid and reliable scale for assessing the resilience of elderly individuals in disasters.