Design and psychometric properties of the academic vitality scale in nursing students

Academic vitality, a dynamic and positive aspect of university life, is crucial for fostering student motivation, academic success, and learning quality, especially in challenging disciplines like nursing. This study, therefore, aimed to design and validate a specific instrument for assessing academic vitality among nursing students. The present study was a methodological investigation focused on instrument design and psychometric evaluation, conducted from March to July 2025 at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. Instrument development followed both inductive (qualitative interviews with students) and deductive (literature review of existing sources) approaches, leading to the creation of an item pool. To ascertain face and content validity, qualitative and quantitative evaluations were performed with the participation of faculty members and students. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted using SPSS software to determine the instrument's factorial structure. Additionally, internal consistency coefficients, including Cronbach's Alpha, McDonald's Omega, and Average Inter-item Correlation (AIC), were meticulously evaluated. The instrument's reliability was also assessed using the test-retest method (ICC). Statistical analyses revealed that the final instrument comprises 20 items categorized into two dimensions: "Clinical Vitality," and "Research Vitality,". These two dimensions collectively accounted for approximately 82.43% of the total variance in the data. Furthermore, the instrument demonstrated excellent and acceptable internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.991, McDonald's Omega = 0.991, and AIC = 0.765) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.997). The developed instrument exhibits desirable psychometric properties in terms of validity and reliability, rendering it a robust tool for assessing academic vitality in nursing students. Utilizing this instrument can significantly contribute to identifying factors influencing academic vitality and formulating effective educational and clinical interventions to enhance it.