The Chinese Mandarin Version of the Crisis Triage Rating Scale for Taiwanese with Mental Illness to Compulsory Hospitalization

Background: A controversial issue of the need to protect human rights and ensure public safety still remains a conflict in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to translate the Crisis Triage Rating Scale to Chinese Mandarin (CMCTRS). Method: A cross-sectional design with convenient sampling was employed in this study. The CMCTRS was tested on 302 Taiwanese individuals with mental illness who were admitted to the emergency room (ER) of a psychiatric center. A higher score indicated a greater need for mandatory psychiatric admission. Psychiatrists rated the patients’ status according to three scale criteria and six action plans of recommendations. Results: Five specialists evaluated the content validity index to be 0.8. A total of 210 participants (69.5%) were deemed suitable for compulsory hospitalization or admission for observation in ER. The optimal cut-off score was 8, with a Youden Index of 1.46, a sensitivity of 0.748, and a specificity of 0.712 in deciding the need for hospitalization or observation. Conclusions: The CMCTRS exhibited an acceptable criterion validity with psychiatrists in a population of 302 patients at the ER of a psychiatric center. A cut-off point of 8 is recommended for determining hospitalization or a minimum 24 h stay at emergency for observation.

Validation of the Committed Action Questionnaire-8 and Its Mediating Role Between Experiential Avoidance and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese University Students

Background: Committed action is one of the core processes of psychological flexibility derived from acceptance and commitment therapy. It has not been widely investigated in mainland China as appropriate measures are lacking. The current study aimed to validate a Chinese (Mandarin) version of the Committed Action Questionnaire (CAQ-8) in a non-clinical college sample and to explore whether committed action would have a mediating effect in the association between experiential avoidance (EA) and life satisfaction.Methods: We translated the CAQ-8 into Chinese (Mandarin). A total of 913 Chinese undergraduates completed a set of questionnaires measuring committed action, EA, mindful awareness, anxiety, depression, stress, and life satisfaction. For test–retest reliability, 167 respondents completed the CAQ-8 again 4 weeks later.Results: The entire scale of CAQ-8 (Mandarin) and two subscales showed adequate internal consistency and acceptable test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the two-factor structure and the convergent and criterion validity were acceptable. Committed action was correlated with less EA, more mindful awareness, less depressive symptoms, less anxiety, less stress, and more life satisfaction. In bootstrap mediation analyses, committed action partially mediated the association between EA and life satisfaction.Conclusion: The results suggest that the CAQ-8 (Mandarin) is a brief, psychometrically sound instrument to investigate committed action in Chinese populations, and the relationship between EA and life satisfaction was partially explained by committed action. This study provides new information about the usefulness of CAQ-8 and supports the assumption that committed action may be considered a promising factors for improving life satisfaction who have involved in EA among an educated non-clinical population.

Learning Chinese Mandarin characters in an English-speaking country: The development of a child’s symbolic mind

This qualitative research explores the development of the symbolic mind in children through learning Chinese Mandarin characters. Navigated through the lens of relational developmental system metatheory and guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, findings present the analysis of the developmental processes in children’s recognition of symbols and use of known symbols to make and share meaning. This study also offers an explanation of the effect of changes in the sociocultural environment on children's symbolic development. Further, cultural differences toward symbolic representation are discussed with the recommendation of focusing on recognition followed by writing when learning Chinese Mandarin characters.

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Validation of the Chinese/Mandarin Cardiac Rehabilitation Barriers Scale (CRBS-C/M)

Objective. Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of morbidity in China and around the world. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) effectively mitigates this burden; however, utilization is low. CR barriers in China have not been well characterized; this study sought to translate, cross-culturally adapt, and psychometrically validate the CR Barriers Scale in Chinese/Mandarin (CRBS-C/M). Methods. Independent translations of the 21-item CRBS were conducted by two bilingual health professionals, followed by back-translation. A Delphi process was undertaken with five experts to consider the semantics and cross-cultural relevance of the items. Following finalization, 380 cardiac patients from 11 hospitals in Shanghai were administered a validation survey including the translated CRBS. Following exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency was assessed. Validity was tested through assessing the association of the CRBS-C/M with the CR Information Awareness Questionnaire. Results. Items were refined and finalized. Factor analysis of CRBS-C/M ( Kaiser Meyer Olkin = 0.867 , Bartlett’s test p < 0.001 ) revealed five factors: perceived CR need, external logistical factors, time conflicts, program and health system-level factors, and comorbidities/lack of vitality; Cronbach’s alpha ( α ) of the subscales ranged from 0.67 to 0.82. The mean total CRBS score was significantly lower in patients who participated in CR compared with those who did not, demonstrating criterion validity ( 2.35 ± 0.71 vs. 3.08 ± 0.55 ; p < 0.001 ). Construct validity was supported by the significant associations between total CRBS scores and CR awareness, sex, living situation, city size, income, diagnosis/procedure, disease severity, and several risk factors (all p < 0.05 ). Conclusions. CRBS-C/M is reliable and valid, so barriers can be identified and mitigated in Mandarin-speaking patients.

The Chinese (Mandarin) instructions of the 6-minute walk test: A validation study

Background/Objective: To date, a validated Chinese (Mandarin) six-minute walk test (6MWT) translated instruction is not available. Translation of the Chinese 6MWT instruction is done in an ad hoc manner within the Chinese-speaking populations. This study aimed to develop a set of valid and reliable Chinese (Mandarin) instructions of the 6MWT. Methods: Translation was performed from the original English instruction via the recommended “Process of translation and adaptation of instruments” by the World Health Organization to generate the Chinese instructions. The Chinese instructions were tested with 52 healthy adult participants for its validity. Each participant underwent three 6MWTs and a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Randomization allowed participants to undergo the walk test in both the original English and the new Chinese instructions. Face and content validity, intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Chinese instructions of the 6MWT were established through the translation process. Criterion validity was established by analyzing the results of the 6MWT and cardiopulmonary exercise test. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient for inter-rater reliability was excellent ([Formula: see text], 95% confidence [Formula: see text]–1.000). Similarly, the intra-rater reliability across the three raters was high (R1: [Formula: see text], 95% confidence interval [Formula: see text]–1.000; R2: [Formula: see text], 95% [Formula: see text]–1.000; R3: [Formula: see text], 95% [Formula: see text]–1.000). The 6-min walk distances collected from the Chinese and English instructed trials correlated positively with the maximal oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]; [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). Conclusion: This is the first study to develop and validate the Chinese (Mandarin) instructions of the 6MWT, and the translation is as reliable and valid as the original English instructions.

A Study of types and core constituents of Acehnese relative clauses

This research aims to determine and explain the types and the core constituents of Acehnese relative clauses which so far have not been thoroughly discussed. To collect data for this study, a direct elicitation technique is used, and the data is then analyzed through a qualitative descriptive technique. The results showed that the relative clauses in Acehnese were clauses embedded as modifiers of noun phrases. Similar to the relative clauses’ theory proposed by experts in the Acehnese, there are five types of relative clauses: relativization of subject, relativization of predicate, relativization of object, relativization of possessive, and relativization of noun. Relative clauses in Acehnese are formed by connecting core nouns and relative clauses through the connecting word ‘nyang’, except for the relative clause of the predicate element through the ellipsis of the predicate element. The basic structure of the Acehnese relative clauses is the arrangement of the main constituents preceding (postnominal) the relative clauses. The constituents that described the relative clauses could form words or phrases depending on the reference to the meaning of the relative clauses. In the Acehnese, the following elements do not exist: (1) relative clauses that can be reduced by adverbials such as in English, (2) relative pronouns as in German and relative particles such as in Chinese Mandarin; and (3) the attachment of relative suffixes to verbs as in Korean.

"Pinyin Tzimu Project" — a Landmark Event in the History of Chinese Civilization Initiated and Supported by the CPC

The Creation of the Alphabet and words spelling of Chinese Mandarin (Pinyin tsimu project) is a landmark event in the history of Chinese civilization. It breathes new life into ancient Chinese characters. Great &quot;dumb&quot; − the Chinese character − for the first time since 1958 has become known to the whole world by sounds of Beijing speech. Today the two types of writing − Chinese Mandarin traditional ideographic and innovative phonographic writing, in their unity, provide the linguocultural unity of the Chinese society and the progress of science and technology of China. Millions of people in China and beyond are studying the Chinese language based on the sound letter standard of the words of Chinese Putonghua. Letter orthogramms of Chinese words provide tele- and Internet communication of hundreds of millions of Chinese. In the 20 century the first Latinized alphabet for the Chinese language was created with the leading participation of one of the founders and leaders of the CPC, Qu Qiubo, (included in the official list of &quot;100 Greatest Figures of New China&quot;) under the influence of the experience of creating alphabets for the peoples of the USSR in 1921-26. Chinese alphabet, based on Latin letters and letter-spelling forms of Putonghua words are a huge scientific achievement of Chinese linguists. Outstanding contribution to the creation of the alphabet and letter words of Chinese Mandarin was made by a brilliant Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang (1906-2011), called the «father of pinyin zimu» or Chinese alphabet in China. The top leaders of the Communist Party of China, Mao Tsedong, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi led the creation of the &quot;pinyin&quot; alphabet. The political will and wisdom of the CPC&apos;s senior leadership, combined with the creative genius of Chinese linguists, ensured the creation of a letter writing for the people of China, which was &quot;an epochal event in the history of the development of Chinese civilization&quot;.