Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Centrality of Event Scale across multiple trauma‐exposed Taiwanese samples

Abstract

The widely used Centrality of Event Scale (CES) measures the extent that a traumatic event serves as a central component of self‐identity, a reference point, and a turning point in an individual's life story. The present study aimed to develop a Chinese version of the CES and assess its reliability, criterion validity, and factor structure. Data were collected from three samples of trauma‐exposed Taiwanese individuals (N = 939), including 420 earthquake survivors, 300 trauma‐exposed community adults, and 219 trauma‐exposed undergraduate students. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and compared the resulting models with a one‐factor model and the originally proposed model. The results indicated that a new three‐factor model, S‐Bχ2(167, N = 519) = 687.01, p < .001, CFI = .95, IFI = .95, NNFI = .94, RMSEA = .078, SRMR = .047, might better represent the construct compared to the one‐factor or originally proposed model. Furthermore, the Chinese CES demonstrated excellent internal consistency, Cronbach's αs = .89–.94; adequate 1‐month reliability, rs = .54–.64, and 6‐month temporal stability, rs = .52–.67; and good concurrent and predictive validity. The findings indicate that the Chinese version of the CES demonstrates good psychometric properties with a three‐factor structure, and it could be used to assess event centrality among nonclinical trauma‐exposed Taiwanese adults.