Inventory of statements about self-harm (ISAS): development and validation of a Chinese short version in a single-center sample

BACKGROUND: The Inventory of Statements About Self-harm (ISAS) is a psychometrically sound scale to assess non-suicidal self-injury behavior (NSSI). However, its application in China faces two major constraints: the absence of a validated Chinese version and considerable participant burden due to the scale’s 39-item length. This study aimed to translate the ISAS into Chinese, develop a reduced-item version, and validate its psychometric properties in a clinical sample. METHODS: The ISAS was translated into Chinese and a shortened version of the original scale was developed by theoretical construction and item-total correlation analysis. Psychometric testing was conducted on a clinical sample of 546 patients (age: 18.54 ± 3.86 years) from outpatient and inpatient settings. Reliability was evaluated through the Cronbach’s α coefficient and mean inter-item correlations (MIC). Validity was assessed by examining criterion validity and structural validity, which was evaluated using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS: Nearly half of the participants (45.45%) reported engaging in at least one NSSI behavior in the past year. The 13-item Chinese short version of ISAS (ISAS-CS) showed good reliability with favorable Cronbach’s α coefficient and MIC. Criterion validity was confirmed by its significant correlation with the gold standard, the functional assessment of self-mutilation (FASM). Finally, EFA yielded a three-factor model, which was further supported by the subsequent CFA. CONCLUSIONS: This study translated and developed a short-form version of the ISAS, which showed good psychometric properties in a clinical sample. The ISAS-CS can be used as a rapid assessment tool in clinical and research settings.