Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Emotional Contagion Scale among Nurses in China

Background Emotional contagion, the ability to automatically mimic and synchronize with others' emotional expressions, significantly impacts nurses' mental health in healthcare settings. The lack of a validated instrument to assess emotional contagion among nurses in China has hindered related research. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS) and validate the Chinese version among nurses in China. Methods Following established cross-cultural adaptation guidelines, the Chinese version of the ECS was developed through forward translation, synthesis, back-translation, expert committee review, and pre-testing. A convenience sample of 221 ICU nurses from three tertiary hospitals was recruited via an online questionnaire survey. Data analyses included item analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability, and assessments of content validity, construct validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity using statistical software. Results The Chinese version of the ECS consisted of 15 items and five dimensions: happiness, love, fear, anger, and sadness, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 70.821%. CFA indicated good model fit. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency with a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.903 and a split-half reliability of 0.807. The content validity index was 0.989, and the average variance extracted (AVE) for all dimensions exceeded 0.5, indicating good convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusion The Chinese version of the Emotional Contagion Scale exhibits good reliability and validity among ICU nurses in China. It serves as an effective tool for assessing nurses' susceptibility to emotional contagion, providing a scientific basis for future research and the development of targeted psychological intervention strategies.