Development and Evaluation of the Psychological Adjustment Scale for Cancer Patients / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To develop and evaluate the Psychological Adjustment Scale for Cancer Patients (PASCP).Methods: A self-report rating scale was developed with structured methods. A total of 557 cancer patients were asked to complete the scale and evaluate the importance of each item. And 183 relatives and 96 doctors and nurses were also asked to evaluate the importance of each item. The scale was refined and its reliability, validity and responsiveness were evaluated. Results: (1)PASCP was finally refined as a scale with 36-item, 5 dimensions including the impact on emotion/self-esteem, self-perception, daily life, relationship with others/social life, others, and an item to value the general psychological adjustment after the patients were diagnosed with cancer. (2)The scale had good content validity. Its construct was consistent with the concept designed. The factor loading spectrum and ANOVA are 0.63-0.79 and 7.44, 0.67-0.76 and 5.42, 0.69-0.88 and 4.77, 0.66-0.91 and 4.77, 0.63-0.80 and 4.38 respectively. The criterion validity with HAD and FLIC were 0.78 and 0.69 respectively. (3)The test-retest coefficients for the 5 dimensions and the total score were 0.83、0.82、0.86、0.78、0.76 and 0.89 respectively;Cronbach ? for them were 0.83, 0.86, 0.80, 0.78, 0.69 and 0.89 respectively. The split-half reliability for the scale was 0.93. 4.The scale could reflect the changes of the patients' psychological adjustment before and after treatment and recovery. Conclusion:PASCP has high validity, reliability and responsiveness. It is applicable in clinical practice in China.