Objective To develop the Family Activation Scale for Rural Disabled Older Adults and test its reliability and validity，and to provide a validated assessment tool for measuring the level of family activation among the disabled elderly in rural areas. Methods Following the process of scale development, the scale was developed based on the previously formed conceptual framework of the family activation of rural disabled older adults. The first draft of the scale was formed through literature analysis, group discussion, and expert consultation. According to the level of economic development, 463 disabled older adults from 8 administrative villages in 4 districts of Zhengzhou were selected as the survey participants by stratified cluster sampling, and the item analysis and reliability and validity of the scale were tested. Results The finalized scale consists of 7 dimensions and 28 items. Seven common factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 86.333%. The results of validated factor analysis showed that χ2/df=1.220, RMSEA=0.030, GFI=0.891, CFI=0.981, IFI=0.982, TLI=0.979, NFI=0.906. The I-CVI ranged from 0.850 to 1.000, and the S-CVI/Ave was 0.973. The Cronbach′s α coefficient, Spearman-Brown split-half reliability and test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.927, 0.761,and 0.932, respectively. Conclusion The scale has good reliability and validity, and can be used to evaluate family activation of rural disabled older adults.