Development of the Chinese version of Meaning in Life Scale for cancer patients and psychometric evaluation.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To develop a Meaning in Life Scale for cancer patients in Chinese version and to test the validity and reliability.

BACKGROUND: Meaning in life is a protective factor of psychological well-being and is negatively related to depression and demoralisation among cancer patients. The existing scales measuring meaning in life are mostly designed in English and there is no scale designed for Chinese cancer patients based on Chinese cultural background.

DESIGN: Process of instrument development and psychometric evaluation were used.

METHODS: Items were generated from literature review and a focus group interview. Delphi technique was used to test the content validity. Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed with data from 251 cancer patients. The internal consistency of the scale was tested by Cronbach's alpha.

RESULTS: A 25-item Meaning in Life Scale in Chinese version with five domains was developed. The five factors explained 62·686% of the variance. The Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0·897.

CONCLUSIONS: The Meaning in Life Scale in Chinese version has acceptable internal consistency reliability and good content validity and acceptable construct validity. The content of the scale reflected the attitudes of cancer patients towards meaning in life based on Chinese cultural background.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The Chinese version of Meaning in Life Scale for Cancer Patients appears to be a new scale to assess meaning in life among Chinese cancer patients exactly and the concept of meaning in life presented in this scale provides new ideas of meaning intervention in routine clinical practice.