Publication
A psychometric study of the Compassionate Love Scale for Humanity Short version (CLS-H-SF) within a paramedicine student cohort
Publisher:
Elsevier BV
Date:
03-2022
DOI:
10.1016/J.IENJ.2021.101115
Abstract: There is a lack of research on compassion within paramedicine practice despite it being a fundamental component of healthcare. Existing studies have focussed primarily on the related concept of empathy. Additionally, the concept of common humanity has been suggested as a core component of compassion, and it informs the assessment scale utilised in the present study. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed on the 9-item Compassionate Love Scale for Humanity (CLS-H-SF), using a convenience s le of paramedicine students from an Australian university. A total of 225 students completed the study (55% response rate). EFA of the CLS-H-SF supported a one-factor solution with all items being retained and accounted for 53.26% of the total explained variance. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the 9-items was α .909 indicating excellent internal consistency. Factor analysis supported results from a previous psychometric examination of the CLS-H-SF, indicating that the scale shows strong psychometric properties. The literature has also reported other abridged versions of the original 21-item scale however, these have not been tested within a paramedicine cohort. This evaluation suggests that the CLS-H-SF demonstrates robust psychometric characteristics when used in an Australian paramedic student cohort. Although further examination is warranted, it appears that the CLS-H-SF may be a valuable tool to examine compassion within paramedicine students.