• Siu-Man Ng, Ted C T Fong, Elaine Y L Tsui, Friendly S W Au-Yeung, and Sally K W Law.
• Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, G/F Pauline Chan Building, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China. ngsiuman@hku.hk
• Int J Behav Med. 2009 Jan 1;16(2):91-7.

BackgroundDaily spiritual experience (DSE) refers to one's interaction with the transcendent in day-to-day life. Underwood's Daily Spiritual Experience Scale mic(DSES) was developed to measure this experiential component of religiousness and spirituality. Addressing ordinary daily experiences rather than particular beliefs, DSES has transcultural applicability potential.PurposeThe current study aimed to develop and evaluate the Chinese version of DSES (DSES-C).MethodThe 16-item scale was translated faithfully through standard translation/back-translation procedures. The term "God" required an extended definition embracing both a humanized and a philosophical higher power in Chinese culture. The translated scale plus a battery of validation scales were administered to staff of a large rehabilitation service complex, resulting in 245 completed questionnaires.ResultsExploratory factor analysis revealed a similar factor structure as the original English version and similar problems with items 13 (compassion) and 14 (mercy). After carefully deliberating on the Chinese conceptualization of spirituality and balancing psychometric properties, the one-factor 16-item structure of the English version was supported. DSES-C showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97). Construct validity was supported by correlations with validation scales in expected directions.ConclusionThe psychometric properties of DSES were similar to the English version in factor structure, internal consistency, and convergence/divergence construct validity.

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