{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,24]],"date-time":"2025-10-24T04:19:47Z","timestamp":1761279587431,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761091200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Social Science Fund of China","award":["25XSH026"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["25XSH026"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Social trust is a crucial factor influencing adolescents\u2019 mental health and serves as a cornerstone for social stability. However, there is a lack of a reliable measurement tool specifically designed to assess the psychological characteristics of adolescents\u2019 social trust. This study aimed to develop and validate the Chinese Adolescent Social Trust Scale (STS-CA). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 adolescents (aged 12 to17 years) to generate an initial pool of scale items. Subsequently, eighteen psychological experts evaluated the content validity, and the scale was revised based on their feedback, resulting in a preliminary version. A total of 2036 secondary school students were randomly divided into Sample 1 and Sample 2. Sample 1 (N1 = 1018) was used in item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Sample 2 (N2 = 1018) was utilized for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Sample 3 (N3 = 1214) was recruited to assess the scale\u2019s reliability, validity, and measurement equivalence. Two months later, test\u2013retest reliability analysis was assessed using Sample 4 (N4 = 303). The final STS-CA consists of 27 items covering four factors, namely trust in relatives, trust in friends, trust in strangers, and trust in organizations. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, test\u2013retest reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Correlations between the STS-CA subscale scores and external criterion variables\u2014interpersonal trust, trust propensity, and life satisfaction\u2014supported criterion validity. Additionally, the scale exhibited good measurement equivalence across gender and educational stages. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the STS-CA is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing social trust levels among Chinese adolescents.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15111436","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,23]],"date-time":"2025-10-23T01:14:02Z","timestamp":1761182042000},"page":"1436","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Development and Validation of Social Trust Scale for Chinese Adolescents (STS-CA)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Youling","family":"Bai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"},{"name":"Mental Health Education Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luoxuan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"},{"name":"Mental Health Education Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuhan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"},{"name":"Mental Health Education Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanling","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"},{"name":"Mental Health Education Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-9477.12080","article-title":"Solid or flexible? 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