Eight Personal Characteristics Scale Related to Vitality in Disasters: Turkish Validity and Reliability

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Disaster preparedness
• Measurement validation

Background:

• Vitality and personal traits are crucial for survival during disasters and life challenges.
• A validated instrument is needed to assess these traits in the Turkish population for disaster preparedness.
• Existing measures may not be culturally adapted or validated for Turkish speakers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and validate the Turkish version of the Vitality Questionnaire.
• To assess the reliability and validity of the "Scale of Eight Personal Characteristics Related to Vitality" in a Turkish sample.
• To provide a tool for identifying personal traits advantageous for survival in disaster contexts.

Main Methods:

• Translation of the "Scale of Eight Personal Characteristics Related to Vitality" into Turkish by language experts.
• Conducting validity and reliability analyses, including a pilot test with 30 participants.
• Collecting online data from 523 Turkish individuals who had experienced disasters between February 1 and March 1, 2024.

Main Results:

• The Turkish version retained the original 8-factor structure, with all item factor loadings above 0.40 and an explained variance of 61.180%.
• Factor loadings ranged from 0.34 to 0.83, indicating good item discrimination.
• Internal consistency, assessed via split-half reliability, was found to be at an acceptable level.

Conclusions:

• The "Eight Personal Traits Scale Related to Disaster Vitality" is a valid and reliable measurement tool for the Turkish population.
• The validated scale can effectively identify personal traits important for disaster resilience.
• This tool supports systematic preparations for future disasters and life challenges in Turkey.