Schizophrenia is a significant public health concern in China, imposing a heavy burden on patients’ families and the healthcare system. However, there is a lack of a specific questionnaire for family caregivers of schizophrenia patients in China. This study aimed to introduce and culturally adapt the Family Coping Questionnaire (FCQ) to develop an assessment tool suitable for the Chinese cultural context. With the permission of the original author, the FCQ was culturally adapted following the Brislin translation model, which involved forward translation, target harmonization, back translation, and reconciliation. A pilot test with 15 caregivers was conducted to refine the questionnaire, followed by a cross-sectional survey of 242 participants from the psychiatric clinic and ward at the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 to evaluate the scale’s properties. The Chinese version of the FCQ demonstrated good reliability, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.714 for the overall questionnaire and ranging from 0.57 to 0.79 for individual scales. The split-half reliability was 0.654, and test-retest reliability ranged from 0.52 to 0.88 for individual scales, with an overall FCQ reliability of 0.89. The content validity index was 1.0, and the FCQ accounted for 62.97% of the variance, indicating satisfactory construct validity. The culturally adapted Chinese version of the FCQ questionnaire has demonstrated good reliability and validity, serving as an effective tool for assessing the coping styles of caregivers of schizophrenia patients in China. However, this study has limitations. The sample was mainly composed of caregivers of patients in mild wards, and future research needs to expand the sample range. Not applicable.

Background: Global population aging has raised worldwide demand for geriatric care practitioners, including in China. Vocational nursing students are key reserve workforce for geriatric care, yet few enter this sector. Existing studies have explored individual factors shaping geriatric care employment intention, but few examine interactive effects of family support, experiential exposure and personal cognitive factors, or extend Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to Chinese vocational nursing education. Purpose: This study explores how family support, practical care experience and personal cognitive variables interact to shape vocational nursing students’ intentions to engage in geriatric care. It expands SCCT application and provides empirical evidence for geriatric care workforce recruitment, nursing curriculum design and may offer insights for other regions of China and aging societies internationally. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,537 vocational nursing students in Hunan Province (2024–2025). Questionnaire data were analyzed using binary logistic regression and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) to identify key predictors. Hayes’ PROCESS macro was used to test the mediating role of personal factors. Results: Only 53.4% of students reported willingness to work in geriatric care. Family attitudes, prior caregiving experience and personal-factor-related occupational cognitions positively predicted intention, while insufficient curriculum exposure and poor perceived career prospects suppressed it. Personal factors significantly mediated the association between family factors and employment intention, with notable interactive effects across family, experience and cognition-related variables. Conclusion: Findings highlight integrating the family-experience-cognition pathway into curriculum optimization and policy interventions. This study enriches SCCT application in Chinese vocational education and offers region specific practical references for strengthening China’s geriatric care workforce via talent cultivation and educational reform.