Development and validation of a mandarin version of demoralization scale for adolescents and young adults

The impact of demoralization among the general population has received little attention due to the lack of an appropriate measurement. Three studies involving 1,143 high school and undergraduate students in Taiwan were thus conducted to develop and validate a tool to assess demoralization. A pool of 50 items was first developed and administered to high school students. Exploratory factor analysis results supported a 5-factor solution with 15 items (Study 1). Study 2 compared the potential models using confirmatory factor analysis and found the 5-factor second-order model with 15 items the best fit model. The 15-item Mandarin version of Demoralization Scale (DS-M-15) was also found to have good internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and (concurrent and predictive) validity in a sample of undergraduate students (Study 3). Taken together, the converging findings show that the DS-M-15 is a promising tool for assessing demoralization among Chinese adolescents and emerging adults.