Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Psychological Climate Scale among nuclear emergency responders

Objective To translate and culturally adapt the Psychological Climate Scale into Chinese and to examine its reliability and validity among nuclear emergency responders, thereby providing a reliable instrument for assessing their organizational psychological climate. Methods The Brislin translation–back-translation model was employed to translate and culturally adapt the Psychological Climate Scale. Following expert consultation and a pilot study, a Chinese version of the scale was developed. A total of 286 nuclear emergency responders from three provinces (Beijing, Hunan, and Yunnan) were recruited to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale. Results The final Chinese version comprised 18 items across two dimensions. The overall Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.953, with α values of 0.944 and 0.929 for “Supervisor Support and Work Value” and “Organizational Constraints and Emotional Expression,” respectively. The split-half reliability was 0.951, and the two-week test–retest reliability coefficient was 0.782. Content validity was satisfactory (I-CVI: 0.900–1.000; S-CVI/Ave: 0.953). Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure (KMO = 0.945), explaining 68.267% of the total variance. Conclusion The Chinese version of the Psychological Climate Scale demonstrated good reliability and validity among nuclear emergency responders. The instrument provides a useful tool for assessing psychological climate in this population and may offer an empirical basis for organizational support strategies and targeted psychological interventions.