Testing the reliability and validity of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Short Form with Chinese college students

Currently, there is no instrument to quickly measure adult attachment in the Chinese cultural context. In this study the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Short Form (ECR-S) was translated and tested in terms of reliability and validity with Chinese college students. All items of the Chinese-version ECR-S showed high discriminability and the scale had a two-dimensional structure in both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The internal consistency coefficients of the two subscales of the ECR-S showed excellent reliability, and scores were modestly to highly correlated with the criteria of state adult attachment, self-esteem, anxiety, pressure, depression, and satisfaction with intimate (romantic) relationships. It can be concluded that the Chinese version of the ECR-S has high reliability and validity; thus, it meets the requirements for psychometric tools and can be used to assess Chinese adults’ attachment.