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

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. 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). 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. 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.