Abstract: Objective: To develop the Negative Emotional and Behavior Response Scale for Unaccompanied Hospitalized Preschool Children (NEBRSUHPC) and test its validity and reliability, aiming to provide a valid tool for assessing the negative emotion of hospitalized children. Methods: Based on the ABC Theory of Emotion and child emotional psychology, a preliminary scale was designed through literature review, expert consultations and pilot surveys. From January to October 2024, a convenience sampling method was used to select 191 unaccompanied hospitalized children from Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of 2 tertiary grade A hospitals in Wuhan for investigation, and validity and reliability test were conducted. Results: NEBRSUHPC comprised a total of 22 items which could be categorized into four dimensions: fear and vigilance, sadness and withdrawal, anger and aggression, and emotional control and management. The Cronbach's α coefficient for the overall scale was 0.924. Exploratory factor analysis identified four common factors, accounting for a cumulative variance contribution rate of 76.448%. Conclusion: NEBRSUHPC has good reliability and validity and is suitable for assessing the negative emotional and behavior responses of children aged from 3 to 7 years.

Key words: hospitalized children; unaccompanied; negative emotion; behavioral response; scale