Background: This study was designed to assess the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and preliminary psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Future Disposition Inventory-24 (FDI-24) in a large sample of Chinese university students.
Methods: We translated the English version of the Future Disposition Inventory-24 (FDI-24) into Chinese and examined its factor structure, estimates of internal consistency reliability, and psychometric properties in a representative sample of university students. In particular, students (N = 2,074) from two universities in Shandong Province in China were identified using the multi-stage stratified sampling method. In addition to the FDI-24, we collected preliminary data using self-report instruments that included the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and a general sociodemographic information questionnaire.
Results: The results of the internal consistency reliability estimates were adequate regarding the scores on the three FDI-24 subscales: Cronbach's alpha = .89-.97, Omega total = .85-.96, Revelle's Omega total = .88-.96, the greatest lower bound (GLB) = .89-.96 and Coefficient H = .86-.94. Bivariate correlation analyses showed evidence for criterion and discriminant validity. The 3-factor oblique-Geomin-rotation solution accounted for 62.92% of the total variance in the exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) result showed that the 3-factor model provided adequate fit statistics for the sample data: the robust comparative fit index (R-CFI) was .959, robust Tucker Lewis index (R-TLI) was .946 and robust root mean square error of approximation (R-RMSEA) was .090.
Conclusion: The FDI-24 has a satisfactory factor structure, reliability estimates, and satisfactory evidence of concurrent validity estimates for students with different demographic and cultural backgrounds. The FDI-24 holds promise for use in future investigations with Chinese students.
Keywords: Future disposition Inventory-24; Hopelessness; Reliability; Suicide; Validity.