Reliability and validity of the Interpersonal Relationship Rating Scale in a Chinese population

Abstract

Interpersonal relationships are of great significance to individuals, as positive relationships contribute to enhanced life satisfaction and mental health. To develop an effective scale for assessing interpersonal relationships, the Interpersonal Relationship Rating Scale was developed, and its reliability and validity were examined in a Chinese population. The initial items for the scale were formed through a literature search, clinical investigation, and expert interviews. A total of 461 valid responses were collected through the Questionnaire Star platform for exploratory factor analysis, leading to the extraction and naming of common factors. In addition, an offline questionnaire survey was conducted at a secondary vocational school in Nanjing, yielding 882 valid responses. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using Mplus 8.0 to assess the model fit. The comprehensive evaluation of the scale confirmed its reliability and validity. The Interpersonal Relationship Rating Scale was ultimately divided into four dimensions. Validated factor analyses indicated a well-fitted model (χ²/df = 7.59, Comparative Fit Index = 0.860, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.838, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.086). The scale demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, with an alpha coefficient of 0.903 and dimension-specific coefficients ranging from 0.674 to 0.909. Test-retest reliability for the total scale was 0.401, and for the dimensions, it ranged from 0.269 to 0.381 (P < 0.01). The scale also exhibited strong construct validity, criterion-related validity, and discriminant validity (P < 0.01). Overall, the Interpersonal Relationship Rating Scale is a reliable and valid tool for assessing interpersonal relationships in the Chinese population.

Keywords

Interpersonal relationships / Scale development / Reliability / Validity

Funding

This study was funded by the Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Program (BE2019748), which supported participant recruitment and data collection.

Conflict of interest

Yonggui Yuan and Wenhao Jiang are the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor of the journal, respectively, but were not involved in any way, directly or indirectly, in the editorial and peer-review process of this paper. Separately, the other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

References

[1] Okada M, Suzue T, Jitsunari F. Association between interpersonal relationship among high-school students and mental health. Environ Health Prev Med. 2010; 5(1):57-62. doi: 10.1007/s12199-009-0108-7

[2] Sun Y, Gui SS. A study on the current status of attachment among college students and its relationship with self-esteem and interpersonal relationships. Chin J Health Psychol. 2012; 20(4):567-569.

[3] Zhang WX, Feng GQ, Si JW. Psychology and Education. Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House; 2006.

[4] Zhang TY. The Impact of Interpersonal Relationships on College Students’ Subjective Well-being and Intervention Research. China: Inner Mongolia Normal University; 2017.

[5] Dai XY. Handbook of Commonly Used Psychological Assessment Scales. Beijing: People’s Military Medical Publishing House; 2010. p. 175-176.

[6] Davis MH. A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Cat Sel Doc Psychol. 1980; 10(4):85-95.

[7] Rotter JB. A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. J Pers. 1967; 35(4):651-665. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1967.tb01454.x

[8] Xu HY. Revision of the interpersonal trust scale and its application reference in college student groups. Lit Educ Mater. 2010; 39(20):222-223.

[9] Ding HY, Peng KP. Erratum and revision of the interpersonal trust scale in Chinese translation. Psychol Mon. 2020; 15(6):4-5+7.

[10] Hojat M. Change in empathy in medical school. Med Educ. 2018; 52(4):456-457. doi: 10.1111/medu.13497

[11] Wei CW, Ma Y, Xie J. The relationships between parenting styles, interpersonal trust and interpersonal distress in dormitories among teacher trainees. Educ Obs. 2022; 11(20):28-31.

[12] Liu WB. Research on the Impact of Comprehension Social Support, Self-esteem on Interpersonal Relationships and Educational Countermeasures of Fresh-men in High School. China: Shanxi University of Science and Technology; 2022.

[13] Zheng RC. Psychological Diagnosis of College Students. Jinan: Shandong Education Press; 1999. p. 339-345.

[14] Hao YN. Revision of the Interpersonal Circle Inventory (IPIP-IPC). China: Yangzhou University; 2016.

[15] Fang XY, Wo JZ, Lin XY. Development of the adaptation scale for Chinese College students. Psychol Behav Res. 2005; 3(2):95-101.

[16] Hinz A, Klein AM, Brähler E, et al. Psychometric evaluation of the generalized anxiety disorder screener GAD-7, based on a large German general population sample. J Affect Disord. 2016; 210:338-344. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.12.012

[17] Williams N. PHQ-9. Occup Med (Lond) 64(2): 139-140. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqt154

[18] Gelaye B, Tadesse MG, Williams MA, Fann JR, Vander Stoep A, Andrew Zhou XH. Assessing validity of a depression screening instrument in the absence of a gold standard. Ann Epidemiol. 2014; 24(7):527-531. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2014.04.009

[19] Beard C, Hsu KJ, Rifkin LS, Busch AB, Björgvinsson T. Validation of the PHQ-9 in a psychiatric sample. J Affect Disord. 2016; 193:267-273. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.075

[20] Wu ML. Practice of Statistical Analysis of Questionnaires: SPSS Operation and Application. Chongqing: Chongqing University Press; 2010.

[21] Hu LT, Bentler PM. Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct Equ Model A Multidiscip J. 1999;6:1-55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118

[22] Liu D, He CZ, Ju WJ. Research on the relationships between anxiety and depression status and interpersonal relationships distress among college students. J Harbin Med Univ. 2022; 56(6):632-637.

[23] Zhang FF., Dong Y, Wang K, Zhan ZY, Xie LF. Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reaction Indicator Inventory (IRI-C). Chin J Clin Psychol. 2010; 18(2):155-157.

[24] Rotter JB. Interpersonal Trust, Trustworthiness, and Gullibility. Presidential Address Presented at the Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston; 1977.