Objective      To develop a resilience scale for adults for Chinese army and examine its reliability and validity.      Methods      A sampling survey consisting of resilience scale for adults (RSA)

Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC) and symptom check list (SCL-90) was conducted in 2000 military personnel enrolled by  sampling.      Results      ①Twenty-five items of RSA were retained based on the results of exploratory factor analysis

including four factors of personal competence

family cohesion

social support and social competence. ② RSA factors were significantly correlated with each other

and the correlation coefficient ranged from 0.409 to 0.546. There was also a significant correlation between RSA factors and total score; and the correlation coefficient ranged from 0.694 to 0.901. The RSA scale correlated positively with CD-RISC (r=0.471 to 0.752) and negatively with SCL-90 (r=-0.546 to -0.349

P0.01). ③ Confirmatory factor analysis proved that the measured data fitted well with the hypothesized four-factor model.      Conclusion      The RSA of 25 items for Chinese army possesses good reliability and validity

and can be applied to evaluate the army’s mental resilience.