Development and Psychometric Properties of the Self-Evaluation Profile Inventory for Chinese Chronically Disabled Patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop an inventory that measures important domains of self-esteem for Chinese chronically disabled patients. Through in-depth interviews, this study identifies eight major domains that constitute self-esteem of Chinese chronically disabled patients, which can be further grouped into the individual-oriented and social-oriented dimensions. A self-evaluation profile inventory was developed to measure these eight domains. The draft version of the 70-item inventory was administered to 52 chronic patients and 147 normal adults. Through item discrimination, internal consistency, and factor analyses, 39 items were kept. Four factors were identified under the individual-oriented dimension, which were Life Meaning, Health Status, Career Outlook, and Competence. Another four factors were identified under the social-oriented dimension, which were Social Status, Family Support, Ability to Repay, and Family Responsibility. This 39-item final version was administrated to 82 chronically disable patients and 84 normal adults. Results showed that the inventory has good psychometric properties:α is .94 for the whole inventory, and ranges from .73 to .85 for the eight subscales. The correlations with the Rosenberg's Self Esteem scale are .82 for the whole inventory, and range from .33 to .73 for the eight sub-scales. Culture differences in the formulation of self-esteem between western and Chinese societies are discussed.