AUTHOR=Zhang Binfeng , Li Xiuxia , Tan Peixuan , Liu Yuxing , He Wanyong , Wang Lu , Huang Shuling , Nie Guanghui 

TITLE=Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Odor Awareness Scale

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1228179

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1228179

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>The Odor Awareness Scale (OAS) is a questionnaire that assesses individual differences in awareness of odors in the surrounding environment, which has been shown to be associated with affective symptoms in recent researches. To further research, A Chinese version of the OAS needs to be introduced.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Objective</title><p>To investigate the factor structure and validate the psychometric properties of the OAS.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 978 participants from college were randomly allocated into two groups for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. Additionally, the study entailed item analysis and scrutinized internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. Test-retest reliability was assessed by having 214 participants complete the OAS twice at a one-week interval. Concurrent validity was measured using the Body Odor Sniffing Questionnaire (BOSQ), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20).</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Results</title><p>EFA identified three factors that best fit the data: odor sensitivity, odor impact, and odor attention. CFA validated a second-order factor model, yielding good fit indices: <inline-formula><mml:math id="M1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>χ</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula>/ Df = 2.326, RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.911, TLI = 0.900, SRMR = 0.053. The final version of the OAS comprised 27 items and exhibited a commendable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.913), and a good test-retest reliability, as evidenced by the high Pearson correlation coefficient (<italic>r</italic> = 0.940) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.940). The OAS was significantly correlated with BOSQ (<italic>r</italic> = 0.416), GAD-7 (<italic>r</italic> = 0.155), and TAS-20 (<italic>r</italic> = −0.081).</p></sec><sec id="sec5"><title>Conclusion</title><p>The Chinese version of the OAS demonstrated robust reliability and validity, rendering it a valuable instrument for evaluating odor awareness in the Chinese population.</p></sec>