Hussain, S., Nadeem, A., & Khawar, R.
Development and validation of the Silver Lining Scale for young adults in Pakistan
A “silver lining” is a metaphor for a positive aspect or hopeful element that can be found in a difficult, unfortunate, or adverse situation (Seery, 2011). This study was designed to develop a reliable and valid scale measuring silver lining in young adults involving multiple phases, including exploring the phenomenology of the construct, generating an item pool, conducting item reduction, and establishing the scale’s psychometric properties. The items were generated through an open-ended phenomenological method from 13 participants (Mage = 25.9, SDage = 4.8). A list of 53 items (initial item pool) was validated by eight experts. For standardization of the Silver Lining Scale (SLS), 405 university students (men = 83, women = 322) with age ranging from 18 to 26 years (M = 21.20, SD = 1.38) were recruited through a stratified random sampling from a public sector university of Faisalabad (Pakistan). A demographic information sheet, General Benefit Finding Scale, Flourishing Scale, and WHO Brief QoL were used to establish the psychometric properties. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted in four factors: personal growth, familial bonding, empathy, and religiosity. The SLS was found to have an excellent internal consistency (α = .93) along with strong reliability (test-retest and split-half) and validity (concurrent and convergent) coefficients. The SLS holds potential implications for research, practice, and policy development, particularly in positive psychology.
Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 2024, Vol. 31, pp. 609-629, DOI: 10.4473/TPM31.4.11
