AbstractThe psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Mini‐Mental Adjustment to Cancer scale (Mini‐MAC) were examined among 115 Chinese cancer patients in Hong Kong. The five subscales from the original Mini‐MAC (Anxious Preoccupation, Helpless–Hopeless, Fighting Spirit, Fatalism, Cognitive Avoidance) had acceptable internal reliabilities (Cronbach's α ranged from 0.65 to 0.88) and construct validities in our sample. Factor analysis suggested three factors: (1) Negative Emotion (α=0.91) contained items of the Anxious Preoccupation and the Helpless–Hopeless subscales of the original Mini‐MAC, (2) Positive Attitude (α=0.77) combined the Fighting Spirit and the Fatalism subscales of the original version, and (3) Cognitive Avoidance (α=0.65) which was identical to the Cognitive Avoidance subscale of the original Mini‐MAC. Construct validities of the novel factors were shown by their correlations with HADS Anxiety and Depression scores in the predicted directions. It was concluded that both the 5‐factor model from the original Mini‐MAC and the 3‐factor model from the present study were valid in Hong Kong Chinese cancer patients. The results were discussed in terms of the meaning of the original Mini‐MAC factors and cultural differences in coping functions between Chinese and UK cancer patients. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.