Resilience (BRS)
How you recover after setbacks. Answer the app’s questionnaire and see your result right away.
Source · Smith BW, Dalen J, Wiggins K, Tooley E, Christopher P, Bernard J. The Brief Resilience Scale: assessing the ability to bounce back. Int J Behav Med. 2008;15(3):194–200. CareOps English translation of its existing Korean questionnaire. Wording, response choices and descriptive score ranges follow the CareOps version and have not been independently validated in English. CareOps displays a six-item sum rather than the original mean score. These ranges are descriptive, not diagnostic.
Brief Resilience Scale: how you bounce back
The Brief Resilience Scale was published by Bruce Smith and colleagues in 2008. Rather than counting the resources that help you, it asks about recovery itself: how well you bounce back after stress. The six items alternate between recovering quickly or getting through hard times without much trouble, and taking a long time to recover or struggling to snap back. This page uses an English translation of the CareOps version, which has not been independently validated in English.
Reading your results
Higher scores mean greater resilience. The result screen shows a six-item sum, with 0–17 as lower, 18–25 as moderate and 26–30 as higher resilience. The original scale reports a mean score, so do not compare these numbers directly with other sources. Three items about slow recovery are reverse-scored; if you agreed with both quick and slow recovery, your pace may depend on the situation. A low score does not mean you are weak; it can also reflect how much you are carrying right now.
A question to reflect on
Recall a difficult time that eventually passed. Write down three things that helped you recover, such as a person, a habit or a way of thinking, and mark the ones you could still use now.
Frequently asked questions
- How many questions are in Resilience (BRS), and how long does it take?
- There are 6 questions, and it usually takes about 1 minute. For each question you choose one of 5 answers, from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”. There are no right or wrong answers.
- Is resilience something you are born with?
- This scale asks about your current experience of recovery, so you do not need to treat it as a fixed trait. Rest, asking for help and how you view setbacks can all shift it.
- I'm exhausted lately. Could that lower my score?
- Yes. When pressure piles up, recovery feels slower and the score can drop. Try again once you have had some breathing room and compare.
- Does a high score mean I feel less stress?
- Not necessarily. It means you tend to return to your usual state faster after stress. Measures such as the PSS show how much stress you feel.
- Do I need to sign in? Are my answers saved?
- You can see your results right away without signing in. Your answers are used only for scoring and are not stored on our servers.
- Can I bring these results into a counseling session?
- Use the analysis button at the bottom of the result screen to have a short conversation with Maeumi without signing in. After the conversation, you can continue in the app. The web conversation does not transfer automatically to the app.
- Can I share my results with a friend?
- Yes. Use Share at the top right of the result screen to send a friend the check itself, or share your result as a link or story image. A result link carries your scores inside the address only; it does not include your name or account, and nothing is saved on our side.