CD-RISC: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale

The CD-RISC (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale) is a 25-item self-report measure of resilience, the ability to cope with and thrive in the face of adversity. Each item is rated 0 to 4, giving a total of 0 to 100; higher scores mean greater resilience ^[1].

What does the CD-RISC measure?

The CD-RISC was developed by Kathryn Connor and Jonathan Davidson as a quantitative measure of resilience, viewed as a measure of stress coping ability ^[1].

They proposed resilience as a possible target of treatment in anxiety, depression and stress reactions, including PTSD ^[1].

How do you give the CD-RISC?

The CD-RISC is a self-report questionnaire completed by the respondent; no clinician administration or scoring is required. A shorter 10-item version (CD-RISC-10) and a 2-item version (CD-RISC-2) are also available where brevity is a priority.

• Rating. Each of the 25 items is rated on a 5-point scale (0 = not true at all, 4 = true nearly all the time) for how the respondent has felt over the past month ^[1].
• Total. Item scores are summed for a total from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting greater resilience.
• Content. The items draw on personal competence, trust in instincts, tolerance of negative affect, positive acceptance of change and spiritual influences.
• Direction. It is a strengths scale: higher scores reflect a strength, not a symptom burden.

Educational reference only. Does not constitute a clinical assessment.

How do you score and interpret the CD-RISC?

The original study calculated reference scores for each of its samples, from a community sample to PTSD trial participants ^[1]. Higher scores indicate greater resilience.

The cited sources report reference scores rather than clinical cutoffs, so no severity bands are shown. Scores rose in proportion to global clinical improvement during PTSD treatment and fell in those with little or no improvement ^[1], which supports tracking change over time.

Psychometric properties

• Original validation. The original study gave the CD-RISC to a community sample, primary care outpatients, general psychiatric outpatients, a generalized anxiety disorder trial and two PTSD trials. The scale showed good psychometric properties, factor analysis yielded five factors, and increases in CD-RISC score tracked overall clinical global improvement during PTSD treatment ^[1].
• Factor structure. In three undergraduate samples, the 25-item version showed an unstable factor structure; empirically driven modifications produced the unidimensional CD-RISC-10 with good internal consistency and construct validity ^[2].
• Swedish population cohort. In 2,599 adults, the original five-factor structure did not replicate; a 22-item unidimensional model fit, and resilience predicted physical and especially mental health-related quality of life ^[3].

Limitations

• Not diagnostic. The CD-RISC measures a psychological strength, not a disorder, and should be used alongside symptom measures such as the PCL-5 or PHQ-9.
• No clinical cutoffs. Interpretation relies on comparison with reference scores rather than validated bands.
• Unstable factor structure. The original five factors have not replicated consistently, so subscale scores should be interpreted cautiously.
• Self-report. Scores reflect self-perception over the past month and can be influenced by current mood.