Adaptation and validation of Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale in Chinese population

Background and aims: Compulsive buying (CB) is a behavioral addiction that is conceptualized as an obsessive-compulsive and impulsive-control disorder. The Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale (RCBS), a six-item self-reporting instrument that has been validated worldwide, was developed based on this theoretical background. This study aimed to adapt RCBS to the Chinese population (RCBS-TC) to guide future national and international prevalence studies.

Methods: This methodological study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 involved the forward and backward translation of RCBS, the content and face validation of the RCBS, and the evaluation of its translation adequacy. Phase 2 involved the psychometric testing of RCBS-TC for its internal consistency, stability, and construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Results: In Phase 1, RCBS-TC obtained satisfactory item-level (I-CVI = 83.3%-100%) and scale-level content validity index (CVI/AVE = 97.2%), comprehensibility (100%), and translation adequacy [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.858]. In Phase 2, based on data collected from 821 adults, RCBS-TC demonstrated a satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .88; corrected item-total correlation coefficients = 0.61-0.78) 2-week test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.82 based on 61 university students). For construct validation, the CFA results indicated that the corrected first-order two-factor models were acceptable with the same goodness-of-fit indices (χ²/df = 8.56, CFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.98, IFI = 0.99, and RMSEA = 0.09). The 2-week test-retest reliability of RCBS-TC (n = 61) was also satisfactory (ICC = 0.82).

Discussion and conclusions: This methodological study adopted appropriate and stringent procedures to ensure that the translation and validation of RCBS-TC was of quality. The results indicate that this scale has a satisfactory reliability and validity for the Chinese population.