Examining psychometric properties and measurement invariance of a Chinese version of the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form (SCS-SF) in nursing students and medical workers

BACKGROUND: Self-compassion has been regarded as a key psychological construct and a protective factor of mental health status. The focus of the present study was to adapt the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) into Chinese, assess the validity and reliability of the measure and test measurement invariance (MI) across nursing students and medical workers. METHODS: The current study assessed the psychometric properties and invariance of the SCS-Short Form (SCS-SF) in two samples of 2676 from nursing students and medical workers. For construct validity, confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses (CFAs and EFAs) were conducted. Using Perceived Stress Questionnaire , Short Form-8 Health Survey (SF-8) and Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale, we evaluated concurrent validity and convergent/divergent validity. For reliability, internal consistency and test–retest analysis were employed. Multi-group analyses were conducted to examine MI of the different SCS-models across populations. RESULTS: CFA showed that the proposed six-factor second‐order model could not be replicated and the six-factor first‐order model was a reasonable to mediocre fitting model in both samples. EFA supported a three-factor structure which consisted of one positive and two negative factors. CFA confirmed that the hypothesized three-factor structure with 10 items ultimately was considered as the optimal model on the fitted results. The SCS-SF‐10 (10 items form) also demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and test–retest reliability, as well as strong concurrent validity with measures of stress perception, health status, anxious and depressive symptoms. Convergent/divergent validity was not satisfactory. Multi-group CFAs provided support for the validity of the established models. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the SCS-SF‐10 has sound psychometric properties and can be applied to efficiently assess self-compassion in Chinese-speaking populations. The current study contributes to the identification and measurement of self-compassion after adversities.