Development and validation of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale

Taking an integrative etic-emic approach, the current study aimed at developing a culturally contextualized positive youth development (PYD) scale in China. We collected survey data from one sample of 695 adolescents (321 girls, Mage = 13.82 years) to identify appropriate items and structure for the measure through a series of exploratory factor analyses. We then collected survey data from another sample of 1,404 adolescents (611 girls, Mage = 13.89 years) to examine the measure’s reliability, validity, and measurement invariance. Results revealed a four-factor Chinese PYD measure, which showed good psychometric qualities and possessed measurement invariance across gender and age groups. The Chinese PYD measure shared theoretical foundations with the US-based PYD model, but also demonstrated unique definitions and manifestations for some PYD indicators.