Translation and validation of the multidimensional scale of perceived discrimination (MSPD) among Chinese caregivers of children with congenital disorders.
The Chinese MSPD is a reliable 12-item survey that captures caregiver-perceived discrimination in under five minutes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yi and her team translated a 12-item discrimination scale into Chinese. They asked the caregivers of children with heart defects, cleft palate, or Down syndrome to fill it out twice, two weeks apart.
The researchers checked if the scores stayed steady, if the items hung together, and if higher scores matched reports of poor family support.
What they found
The Chinese MSPD earned a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93. Test-retest reliability was 0.88. Caregivers who scored high also reported more stress and less help from relatives.
In short, the tool is reliable and measures what it claims to measure.
How this fits with other research
Green et al. (2020) did the same kind of work with French parents of kids with autism. They trimmed the Parental Stress Index and also found good internal consistency. Both studies show that short, translated caregiver scales can hold up after cultural tweaks.
Bao et al. (2017) validated the NCCPC-ASD pain scale for preschoolers with autism. Like Yi, they proved that a narrow, adapted tool can stay sturdy in a special population.
Mandell et al. (2016) pushed accuracy even higher with the 8-item AMSE, hitting 94 % sensitivity. Yi’s MSPD does not reach clinical diagnosis level, but it gives the same gift: a quick, trustworthy screen where none existed before.
Why it matters
If you serve Chinese-speaking families, you can now open a session with a 3-minute survey that flags perceived discrimination. High scores can guide you to add parent advocacy training or cultural brokering to the behavior plan. The tool is free and ready for clinic or telehealth use today.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AIMS: The original English version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Discrimination (MSPD) was translated and cross-culturally adapted into a Chinese version (MSPD-C). METHODS: Psychometric testing was conducted among 194 caregivers of children with congenital disorders. Internal consistency was tested by calculating Cronbach's α. Test-retest reliability was calculated among 30 participants selected randomly to complete the questionnaire again in 2 weeks. Factor structure was tested with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and concurrent validity was examined by investigating the correlations of the MSPD-C with caregiver burden and anxiety. RESULTS: The Cronbach's α coefficient for MSPD-C is 0.979, and the test-retest reliability values is 0.905. CFA supported the four-factor model with the best goodness-of-fit indices (χ2/df = 2.022, RMSEA = 0.073, SRMR = 0.035, CFI = 0.938, TLI = 0.928). The concurrent validity of the MSPD-C was further supported by its significant positive correlations with caregiver burden (r = 0.384, P < 0.01) and anxiety (r = 0.296, P < 0.01). The average MSPD score of the total sample was 2.21 ± 0.90, which was higher in caregivers of children with structural malformations than those with nonstructural malformations. The group discrimination scores were higher than the individual discrimination scores, and the subtle discrimination scores were higher than the blatant discrimination scores. CONCLUSIONS: The MSPD-C demonstrates robust reliability and validity and could be used as an effective tool to measure perceived discrimination among caregivers of children with congenital disorders. Further application and validation with other populations and in other countries are recommended.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.105006