The Development and Validation of a Short Form of the Forbearance Scale

• Published in: Frontiers in psychology 2021-07, Vol.12, p.686097-686097
• Main Authors: Ho, Man Yee, Liang, Siya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: assessment; factor analysis; forbearance; Psychology; scale development; scale validation
• ISSN: 1664-1078; 1664-1078
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.686097

The Forbearance Scale (FS) is a 16-item self-report measure of forbearance. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the FS subscale and composite scores and developed a 9-item short form of the measure (FS-SF 9). A sample of 1,137 participants was drawn from community, NGO, and college settings. The sample was split into a derivation sample ( = 567) and a validation sample ( = 570). Exploratory factor analyses of the derivation sample data were used to select short-form items. Using the validation sample, confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess fit for proposed item-to-factor assignments. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses supported that the FS-SF 9 had a theoretically congruent factor structure and that all the subscale and composite scores displayed high internal consistency. Correlations with scores from established measures of a lack of forgiveness and emotion regulation also supported the validity of the FS-SF 9. Our data suggest that the FS-SF 9 subscales and composite score retained the psychometric strengths of their longer FS counterparts. Overall, the short form of the FS provides a brief assessment of the construct measured by the full form. Theoretical and practical applications are discussed.