A higher-order model of community resilience potential: development and assessment through confirmatory composite analysis based on partial least squares

Abstract The topic of community resilience attracts as much academic research as it does social media. Understanding the drivers of change and community adaptation in the face of critical events is a key clue to governance actions and local measures. However, both academia and the media often provide partial definitions of community resilience. Beginning with an integration of theory-driven and data-driven knowledge, the study aims to uncover and operationalize the building blocks of community resilience potential within a measurement tool. An assessment study, conducted on 1278 participants from diverse communities statistically supported a broad, inclusive model: Community Resilience Potential is composed of four main constituents (social capital, community competence, structural-functional potential, socio-economic potential). The Confirmatory Composite Analysis formalized for Partial Least-Squares Structural Equation Modeling revealed its good psychometric properties and measurement invariance. Although the study has limitations, it provides researchers with a valuable, theoretically grounded, widely-applicable tool for the investigation of the community resilience potential.