Adaptation and Validation of Learned Helplessness Scale in Chinese Law School Students

Abstract

Cuiyu Lan,1 Tianshu Zhou,2,3 Yuchang Bao,4 Ruizhe Wang,5 Xinying Weng,6 Jie Su,7 Yinlin Li,8 Peijing Qiao,9 Danfeng Guo2 1Faculty of Law, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Political Science, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China; 4Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau, SAR, People’s Republic of China; 5GEC-Advanced Studies Institute, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 6Ip Ying To Lee Yu Yee School of Humanities and Languages, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Public and International Affairs, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China; 8Department of History, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China; 9Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Danfeng Guo, Email [email protected]: This study aims to translate and validate the Learned Helplessness Scale (LHS) for use in the educational context and specifically among Chinese law school students. Understanding learned helplessness in the context of Chinese law students can provide unique insights into the interaction of legal education, psychological health, and cultural influences, thereby contributing to a more nuanced understanding of learned helplessness.Methods: A total of 711 Chinese college students from two law schools participated in this study. The Learned Helplessness Scale (LHS) was translated into Chinese using forward and backward translation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and construct validity were conducted to assess the dimensionality of the Chinese version of the LHS (Chinese LHS).Results: The exploratory factor analysis indicated that the Chinese LHS has a four-factor structure consisting of 14 items, which accounted for 50% of the total variance. The subsequent confirmatory factor analysis further supported this four-factor structure. The internal consistency of the Chinese LHS was found to be medium to high, with Cronbach’s α values ranging from 0.63 to 0.87 for the subfactors, and 0.79 for the total scale. In addition, concurrent validity is also confirmed.Conclusion: The 14-item version of the Chinese LHS is a psychometric sound instrument for assessing learned helplessness among Chinese law school students.Keywords: learned helplessness scale, Chinese, adaptation, validation

Keywords

• learned helplessness scale
• chinese
• adaptation
• validation