Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the modified Carolina Human Papillomavirus immunisation attitudes and beliefs scale among Chinese adolescent girls

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among adolescents is influenced by their views and perceptions of the vaccination. The modified Carolina HPV Immunisation Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (CHIAS) is a well-established instrument to measure adolescents’ views of HPV vaccination. However, there is currently no Chinese version available to inform HPV vaccination promotion efforts among Chinese adolescents. This study aimed to translate and validate the Chinese version of the modified CHIAS (CHIAS-C). A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out with 212 female adolescents recruited from secondary schools. Internal consistency, convergent validity, and construct validity were examined. Cronbach’s alpha of the five domains ranged from 0.60 to 0.89, suggesting acceptable internal consistency. Both positive and negative correlations were found between CHIAS-C domains and HPV vaccination intention, indicating convergent validity. Factorial validity was established through confirmatory factor analysis. Our findings suggest that adolescents had generally positive perceptions of HPV vaccination and were likely to accept vaccination if given more relevant information. It was found that most adolescents had neither attended any school talks about HPV nor spoken about the vaccination with healthcare providers. This illustrates that adolescents experience a lack of communication and education about HPV vaccination, both of which can be enhanced in order to persuade adolescents to receive the vaccination. The results suggest that the CHIAS-C is a reliable and valid tool to measure adolescents’ views of HPV vaccination. The translated scale may therefore be used in future adolescent research and to inform the development of interventions to increase HPV vaccine uptake.