This study describes the cross-cultural adaptation to Portuguese and the psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale developed by Wagnild & Young. The scale was adapted for a sample of students from public schools in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Data from the pilot study (203 students interviewed at two points in time) and from the entire study (977) are presented. The cross-cultural adaptation showed good results in the semantic equivalence for: general meaning (above 90.0%) and referential meaning (above 85.0%). Chronbach alpha was 0.85 in the pilot study and 0.80 in the total sample. Kappa between the two points in time was regular and moderate, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.746 (p = 0.000). Factorial analysis indicated three non-homogeneous factors. Construct validity demonstrated direct and significant correlation with self-esteem, family supervision, life satisfaction, and social support. There was an inverse correlation with the scale that evaluates psychological violence.