Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Family Resilience Inventory

Family resilience plays a crucial role in helping patients with chronic diseases manage their conditions and maintain overall well-being. The Family Resilience Inventory (FRI) assesses resilience across generations with a focus on protective and promotive factors. However, the FRI has not been translated into Chinese or validated for use among families managing chronic diseases. Therefore, this study aims to test assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese Version of the Family Resilience Inventory (FRI-C) among patients with chronic diseases.

The Chinese version of the FRI was obtained through standardized forward translation and cultural adaptation. We recruited 307 patients with chronic diseases from a tertiary hospital in Qingdao, Shandong Province, to complete the FRI. Reliability was assessed using calculating Cronbach's alpha and Guttman split-half reliability. Construct validity was evaluated through the correlation of the FRI-C with the shortened Chinese version of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS-C). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to validate the structural and discriminant validity of the questionnaire.

The FRI-C had a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.964 with 0.959 and 0.952 for the two factors. The split-half reliability was 0.716 for the total scale and 0.961 and 0.943 for the two factors. The FRI-C scales and factor scores were significantly correlated with the FRAS-C total score (r values between 0.692 and 0.810, p < 0.01). CFA revealed that χ ²/df, goodness-of-fit index, incremental fit index, normed fit index, Tucker-Lewis index, comparative fit index, and root-mean-square error of approximation were all within the acceptable range.

The FRI-C demonstrated strong reliability and validity among patients with chronic diseases and it can be used to evaluate family resilience.