Development and initial validation of the contemporary Chinese Familism Scale.

OBJECTIVES: Familism is a core ideology in Chinese society, yet it has been understudied in this cultural context, potentially attributed to the lack of quantifiable measures. This study sought to develop a reliable and valid scale, the Contemporary Chinese Familism Scale (CCFS), to assess Chinese familism and analyze its structural and psychological characteristics in contemporary China. METHOD: The scale development and validation process comprised four studies: in Study 1, literature review, qualitative interviews, and item evaluations by experts were conducted to develop the initial item pool for the CCFS; in Studies 2 and 3, item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, competing model comparisons, and measurement invariance tests were conducted to examine the structure underlying familism (N1 = 958, Mage = 25.4 years; N2 = 570, Mage = 32.01 years); in Study 4, reliability and validity assessments were conducted to further explore the psychometric properties of the final 27-item CCFS using three samples (N2 = 570, Mage = 32.01 years; N3 = 710, Mage = 22.37 years; N4 = 932, Mage = 40.98 years). RESULT: A bifactor structure with one general factor and five specific factors (Connection and Closeness, Offspring and Lineage, Honor and Reference, Harmony and Sacrifice, and Care and Help) demonstrated the best fit for the data and supported the multidimensionality of familism in contemporary China. Subsequent psychometric analyses provided initial evidence for the optimal psychometric properties of the CCFS. CONCLUSION: This study contributes to our understanding of the multifaceted nature of familism in contemporary China by developing a culturally sensitive scale on Chinese familism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes in Chinese early adolescents' group orientation and mental health from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adolescence is a critical period for formulating and developing value orientations. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically restricted people's lives, potentially leading adolescents to reevaluate what they prioritize in life (i.e., their values) and affecting their mental health. Previous studies suggest that Chinese early adolescents' group orientation is negatively associated with mental health more strongly in rural than in urban, whereas this rural-urban differs may vary after the outbreak of the pandemic. To examine potential changes in group orientation, mental health, and their associations during the pandemic, two cross-sectional surveys of ninth-grade students in the same three school were conducted in rural and urban China in 2019 and 2021. The results showed that compared with students before the pandemic (2019, N = 516, 48.8% girls, Mage = 14.87 years), students during the pandemic (2021, N = 655, 48.1% girls, Mage = 14.80 years) displayed lower group orientation such as group responsibility and rule abiding of rural students, and higher loneliness and depressive symptoms. Social equality, group responsibility and rule abiding were all significantly negatively associated with loneliness and depressive symptoms. Those negative associations were stronger in the urban regions than in the rural region. Follow-up invariance analysis revealed that this rural-urban difference in the relations between social equality, group responsibility, and rule abiding and mental health problems was only significant during (and not before) the pandemic. The protective effect of group orientation on mental health seems to be weakened only in rural contexts. The results suggest that significant changes in macrolevel contexts may play an important role in shaping adolescents' value orientation and mental health.

Relationship Between Psychological Responses and the Appraisal of Risk Communication During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Two-Wave Study of Community Residents in China.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Data collection in the ascending phase is crucial to address a rapidly evolving crisis by helping us understand the uncertain relationship between risk communication and psychological responses. Data were collected from 26 January 26, 2020, until February 17, 2020, with a mean test-retest interval of 16 days. A total of 846 adults from four residential communities in high-risk areas (Wuhan city) and low-risk areas (Zhengzhou city) were invited to complete a set of Internet-based questionnaires measuring the adoption of preventive behaviors, appraisal of risk communication, anxiety level, and susceptibility to emotional contagion. At the baseline assessment (Wave 1), 58 withdrew from the study, and 788 (433 females) completed the questionnaires. At the Wave 2 survey, 318 (185 females) adults from Wave 1 were retained. The results from cross-lagged models demonstrated reciprocal negative associations between anxiety and risk communication and between the appraisal of risk communication and the adoption of preventive behaviors. In addition, a higher appraisal of risk communication in the initial period of the outbreak mitigated the respondents' susceptibility to emotional contagion later on. Susceptibility to emotional contagion was positively associated with preventive behaviors taken. Furthermore, multiple-group structural equation modeling suggested that risk communication was more likely to affect the susceptibility to emotional contagion of people on the frontline of the outbreak than people living in low-risk areas. This study demonstrated the importance of risk communication aimed at encouraging appropriate countermeasures against virus outbreaks.