Reliability And Validity Of Chinese Version Of The Aspiration Index In Chinese High School Students

Objective: The aim of the present study was to develop a Chinese version of the Aspiration Index and evaluate its reliability and the validity.Methods: The English version of the Aspiration Index scale was translated and back-translated prior to its administration to 614 participants recruited from two high schools in Hunan Province. One month later, the AI-35 was randomly readministered to a subset (n=102) of the original sample. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, mean inter-item correlation coefficient and test-retest reliability were analyzed for the reliability of AI-35. The construct validity and criterion-related validity of AI-35 were also examined in this study.Results: (1) the reliability of AI-35: The internal consistency coefficient for the total scale was .92 (p <.01), the Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the seven subscales ranged from .66 to .86. The mean inter-item correlation coefficients of the seven subscales ranged from .26 to .54., The test-retest reliability coefficient of the total scale was .75, and the test-retest reliability coefficients of the seven subscales were between .57～.83; (2) The validity of AI-35: Correlation analysis results showed that the total score of AI-35 significantly related with anxious symptoms(r=.114, p<.05) but not depressive symptoms(r=-.06, p>.05). Financial success and appearance significantly related with anxious and depressive symptoms(r=.102～.82 , p<.05), while affiliation and physical fitness nonsignificantly related with anxious and depressive symptoms(r= -.149～.058 , p>.05). Self-acceptance and community feeling only significantly related with depressive symptoms(r=-.106～-.095, p<.05); however social recognition only significantly related with anxious symptoms(r=.142, p<.05). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the following six indices met the psychometrical standards: x~2/df= 4.46, RMSEA=.064, IFI=.932,TLI=.951,CFI=.942, GFI=.933.Conclusions: The properties of AI-35 met the psychometrical standards indicated that it is a reliable and valid assessment of aspiration.