Translation and psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the happiness scale for middle-aged women

Culturally appropriate instruments to assess subjective happiness among middle-aged women in China are lacking. To translate and culturally adapt the Happiness Scale for Middle-Aged Women (HAS-MW) to Chinese and evaluate its psychometric properties. This was a cross-sectional psychometric validation study. The Korean version of the HAS-MW was forward translated into Chinese. Following Brislin’s translation model, it was then back-translated and adapted culturally. The Chinese version of the HAS-MW was administered to 310 participants using convenience sampling. The psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated based on content validity, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, criterion validity, and construct validity. The Chinese version of the HAS-MW consisted of 24 items loaded onto four factors (Self-value, Positive thought, Self-management, Family relations), explaining 65.8 % of the total variance. The factor loadings ranged from 0.56 to 0.84. Cronbach’s α was 0.92. The scale showed good fit indices in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and was strongly correlated with the General Well-Being Schedule (r = 0.88, P < 0.001). The culturally adapted Chinese version of the HAS-MW demonstrated good reliability and validity and was suitable for measuring subjective happiness in middle-aged Chinese women.