New online version of the Chinese intolerance of uncertainty scale—is it valid?

A new study examines how well the Internet-based Chinese language version of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS)—which evaluates a person's reactions to ambiguous situations and attempts to control the future—compares to the traditional paper-and-pencil test. The validity of the online test and its usefulness in assessing psychological factors that may be predictive of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and a range of other negative coping strategies are described in the study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Yang Zhihui, Chen Hui, and Ding Jiali, Beijing Forestry University (People's Republic of China), Zhang Xiao, The Hong Kong Institute of Education (China), and Wang Ruimin, Beijing Normal University (P.R. China), conclude that the online version of the Chinese IUS demonstrates excellent within-test consistency and re-test reliability, is appropriate for use, and is comparable to the paper-and-pencil version in terms of the psychological and personality-related traits it reveals. The researchers present their findings in the article "The Online Version of the Chinese Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale: Psychometric Properties".

"Chinese netizens reached 668 million by the end of June 2015. Across diagnoses, changes in the IUS appear related to treatment outcomes," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "Providing clinicians with a validated online version is crucial as internet-based interventions become more prevalent."