Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Centrality of Event Scale across multiple trauma-exposed Taiwanese samples

The widely used Centrality of Event Scale (CES) measures the extent that a traumatic event serves as a central component of self-identity, a reference point, and a turning point in an individual's life story. The present study aimed to develop a Chinese version of the CES and assess its reliability, criterion validity, and factor structure. Data were collected from three samples of trauma-exposed Taiwanese individuals (N = 939), including 420 earthquake survivors, 300 trauma-exposed community adults, and 219 trauma-exposed undergraduate students. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and compared the resulting models with a one-factor model and the originally proposed model. The results indicated that a new three-factor model, S-Bχ²(167, N = 519) = 687.01, p <.001, CFI =.95, IFI =.95, NNFI =.94, RMSEA =.078, SRMR =.047, might better represent the construct compared to the one-factor or originally proposed model. Furthermore, the Chinese CES demonstrated excellent internal consistency, Cronbach's αs =.89–.94; adequate 1-month reliability, rs =.54–.64, and 6-month temporal stability, rs =.52–.67; and good concurrent and predictive validity. The findings indicate that the Chinese version of the CES demonstrates good psychometric properties with a three-factor structure, and it could be used to assess event centrality among nonclinical trauma-exposed Taiwanese adults.