The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications

Sergey Dukhnovsky; Aleksander Tsymbal

UDC

159.9

VAK Russia

5.3.9

THE “INFORMATION-PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL” SCALE: DEVELOPMENT, PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications

АА Аа

Published in Russian Journal of Deviant Behavior · Pages 433–445 · Rubric: Psychological research on deviant behavior

Received: 10.04.2025 Accepted: 10.07.2025 Published: 28.10.2025 Language of publication: RUS

Authors

Sergey Dukhnovsky

ORCID

Aleksander Tsymbal

ORCID

Sergey Dukhnovsky

Academic degree: doctor of psychological sciences

Science rang: docent

Saint Petersburg University of the MIA of Russia Russian Federation · St. Petersburg

ORCID

Aleksander Tsymbal

Sankt-Peterburgskiy universitet MVD Rossii Russian Federation

ORCID

ABSTRACT

Introduction. The article deals with the problem of measuring the informational and psychological vulnerability of law enforcement officers on a continuum “resilience – vulnerability” drawing on empirical data. This decline in informational and psychological resilience leads to increased vulnerability and victimisation in the information space of service activities, reducing the quality of operational and service activities. Early psychodiagnostics makes it possible to take timely measures to increase resilience and prevent informational and psychological vulnerability and victimisation. The authors’ scale “Informational and Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” is proposed for this purpose. The main aim of the scale is to assess susceptibility to informational influence (direct and/or indirect) on a continuum of “resilience-victimisation”. The questionnaire consists of a set of 13 items, each of which is rated on a five-point scale (where 1 means “strongly disagree”, 5 means “strongly agree”). The final score for the scale is calculated by adding up the scores for all items in the questionnaire. Depending on the expressiveness of the final indicator, the level of informational and psychological vulnerability is assessed on a continuum “resilience – victimization”. The higher the score, the more the assessments deviate towards victimisation; low values indicate informational and psychological resilience. Research methods. Correlational and comparative analysis. Assessment of retest reliability, as well as construct and criterion validity. Results. The ‘Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual’ scale requires minimal time to be conducted and processed, and can be used in various situations, both for practical and research purposes. The presented scale corresponds to the basic psychometric requirements for the development of professional psychological tests. The developed scale should be used to prevent information and psychological vulnerability and victimisation within the framework of moral and psychological support for the activities of internal affairs officers.

KEYWORDS

informational and psychological resilience, vulnerability, victimisation, psychometrics, psychodiagnostics

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Dukhnovsky S. V., Tsymbal A. S. The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications // . 2025. pp. 433-445. (Date of access 19.08.2026).

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Sergey Dukhnovsky, Tsymbal A. S.. "The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications." (2025): 433-445.

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Dukhnovsky S. V., Tsymbal A. S. (2025). The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications. , 433-445.

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Sergey Dukhnovsky, Tsymbal A. S.. "The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications." , no. (2025): 433-445.

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{{cite journal | author = Dukhnovsky S. V., Tsymbal A. S. | title = The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications | journal = | year = 2025 | pages = 433-445 }}

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THE “INFORMATION-PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL” SCALE: DEVELOPMENT, PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS The “Information-Psychological Vulnerability of the Individual” Scale: development, psychometric characteristics and potential applications

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