Psychometric properties of the Benign and Malicious Envy Scale: A cross-cultural study in the Arab Maghreb countries.

BACKGROUND: The Benign and Malicious Envy Scale (BeMaS) is designed to assess the trait of envy and evaluate individual differences in people's tendency to experience benign or malicious envy towards superior comparison standards. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the factor structure of the BeMaS in Arab culture through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and to ensure the measurement equivalence of the benign and malicious envy scale across three countries in the Arab Maghreb region (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). METHODS: The study was conducted on a sample of 1047 students from various universities across three countries, Algeria (n = 401), Tunisia (n = 289), and Morocco (n = 357), and implemented a cross-sectional study design. The study involved individuals aged 18-64 (M = 22.00, SD = 4.79). Most were females (64.4 %, n = 674), with substantial male representation (35.6 %, n = 373). All participants completed the Arabic BeMaS. RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that the Arabic BeMaS has a two-factor structure for the total sample and each subsample. However, some modifications were necessary in the Tunisian sample. The overall results suggest that the two-factor structure of the BeMaS is valid and reliable in the Arab context. At the same time, differences between the three groups suggest cultural differences despite similarities in language, geographic proximity, and shared customs and traditions. Additionally, the results highlight the need for further research into envy, particularly within Arabic culture. Religious and cultural traditions may significantly influence how envy is experienced and perceived, making such cultural differences important to investigate. CONCLUSION: In summary, this study contributes to our measurement of Envy in the Arab context by validating BeMaS and highlighting the importance of cultural factors in measuring and explaining envy. However, further research is needed to deepen our understanding of this complex emotion in different cultural and social contexts.

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8: investigating its cutoff scores in relevance to loneliness and burnout among dementia family caregivers.

The global trend of advanced aging comes at the cost of amplified onset of age-related diseases. Dementia is a common multifactorial age-related neurodegenerative disorder, which manifests with progressive declines in cognitive functioning and ability to perform activities of daily living. As polices discourage institutionalized care, family members act as primary caregivers and endure increased vulnerability to physical and mental health problems secondary to care-related changes in life routine and relationships. Targeting clinically significant distress at earlier stages through valid brief measures may promote caregivers' wellbeing and dementia care continuity/quality. This study aimed to determine the optimal cutoff score of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8) in a convenience sample of 571 European caregivers (Mean age = 53 ± 12 years, Italian = 74.4%, Swiss = 25.6%) through three methods. K-means clustering classified the sample into high- and low-distress clusters based on DASS-8 score of 19. Receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis using 48 and 7 cutoffs of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and the Three-Item University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale-version 3 (UCLALS3), revealed two DASS-8 cutoffs (12.5 and 14.5, area under the curve (AUC) = 0.85 and 0.92, p values < .001, 95% CI 0.82-0.88 and 0.89 to 0.94, sensitivity = 0.81 and 0.78, specificity = 0.76 and 0.89, Youden index = 0.57 and 0.67, respectively). Decision modeling produced two DASS-8 cutoffs (9.5 and 14.5) for predicting low and high caregiving burden and loneliness, respectively. According to the median of all DASS-8 cutoffs (14.5) the prevalence of mental distress was 50.8%. Distress correlated with key mental problems such as burnout and loneliness-in path analysis, DASS-8 scores were predicted by the ZBI, UCLALS3, care dependency, and receiving help with care, especially among older, female, and spouse caregivers. Further diagnostic workup should follow to confirm psycho-pathogenicity among caregivers with DASS-8 scores above 14.5. Investigations of the DASS-8 in other countries/populations may confirm the validity of this cutoff score.

Exploring the lived experience of Arab male patients on intermittent catheterization after spinal cord injury: A phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: Intermittent catheterization (IC) has been identified as one of the critical techniques used by spinal cord injury (SCI) patients to cope with emptying the bladder, despite several problems impeding this procedure. AIM: The study aimed accordingly to explore the lived experience of Arab male patients on IC after their SCI. DESIGN: This study was carried out by using a descriptive qualitative approach with a phenomenological analysis of data. METHODS: A qualitative study was carried out on 10 Arab male patients from the Rehabilitation Hospital at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia who were utilizing intermittent catheters following SCI. The interviews were analysed using Husserl's phenomenology and the Colaizzi method of data analysis. RESULTS: Two major themes and six sub-themes were identified from exploring the patients experience. These themes are as follows: Theme 1: The Way to IC; with two sub-themes: (i) 'service provided and acceptance' and (ii) 'educational experience'; Theme 2: Lifestyle and self-adaptation; with four sub-themes: (i) 'Flexibility and freedom', (ii) 'Physical access to the community', (iii) 'Traveling' and (iv) 'Work and Social life balance'. CONCLUSION: It is evident that using an intermittent catheter among patients with SCI influenced almost all aspects of the participant's life, including their social lives and body image appearance.

Cut-off scores of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8: Implications for improving the management of chronic pain.

AIM: Mental distress, non-specific symptoms of depression and anxiety, is common in chronic pelvic pain (CPP). It contributes to poor recovery. Women's health nurses operate in multidisciplinary teams to facilitate the assessment and treatment of CPP. However, valid cut-off points for identifying highly distressed patients are lacking, entailing a gap in CPP management. DESIGN: This instrumental cross-sectional study identified a statistically derived cut-off score for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8 (DASS-8) among 214 Australian women with CPP (mean age = 33.3, SD = 12.4, range = 13-71 years). METHODS: Receiver operator characteristic curve, decision trees and K-means clustering techniques were used to examine the predictive capacity of the DASS-8 for psychiatric comorbidity, pain severity, any medication intake, analgesic intake and sexual abuse. The study is prepared according to the STROBE checklist. RESULTS: Cut-off points resulting from the analysis were ordered ascendingly. The median (13.0) was chosen as an optimal cut-off score for predicting key outcomes. Women with DASS-8 scores below 15.5 had higher analgesic intake. CONCLUSION: CPP women with a DASS-8 score above 13.0 express greater pain severity, psychiatric comorbidity and polypharmacy. Thus, they may be a specific target for nursing interventions dedicated to alleviating pain through the management of associated co-morbidities. IMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENT CARE: At a cut-off point of 13.0, the DASS-8 may be a practical instrument for recommending a thorough clinician-based examination for psychiatric comorbidity to facilitate adequate CPP management. It may be useful for evaluating patients' response to nursing pain management efforts. Replications of the study in different populations/countries are warranted.

Psychological Toll of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An In-Depth Exploration of Anxiety, Depression, and Insomnia and the Influence of Quarantine Measures on Daily Life.

The COVID-19 pandemic, on a global scale, has prompted multifaceted challenges, including a notable psychological toll on the general population. This study uses mixed-method approach for a nuanced exploration of these experiences. Using a phenomenological strategy, qualitative responses from 999 participants were analyzed regarding their pandemic-induced anxiety and the influence of quarantine measures on their lives. Quantitative measures, including the revised Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the seven-item generalized anxiety disorder assessment (GAD-7), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), were used to quantify trauma, depression, anxiety, and insomnia attributed to COVID-19. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized for quantitative data analysis. The anxiety-related responses were mainly clustered into four themes: life threats, support shortage, economic consequences, and disruptions to family and social life. Subthemes that addressed the perceived effects encapsulated disruptions to academic and professional lives, familial and social relationships, psychopathological stress, and movement limitations. The findings from quantitative analysis revealed the significant associations between COVID-19-related trauma and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia, as indicated by coefficients exceeding 0.10 (all z-values > 1.96; p-values < 0.05). In conclusion, the findings underscore COVID-19's role in escalating anxiety, influenced by various factors, and its disruptive effects on daily life due to quarantine measures. The strong associations between the pandemic and the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia underscore the urgency of comprehensive psychological and public health interventions to alleviate these impacts.

Mortality, Intensive Care Unit Admission, and Intubation among Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A One-Year Retrospective Study in Jordan.

COVID-19 is a public health crisis that has caused numerous deaths, necessitated an increased number of hospital admissions, and led to extended inpatient stays. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with COVID-19 mortality, intensive care unit admission, intubation, and length of hospital stay among Jordanian patients. This was a one-year retrospective study of 745 COVID-19 patients admitted to Jordan University Hospital. Data regarding the patients' demographics, clinical and co-morbid conditions, imaging, laboratory parameters, mortality, intensive care unit admission (ICU), and intubation were collected from their medical records using a coding manual. The data revealed that the overall rates of COVID-19-related mortality, ICU admission, and invasive intubation were 23.0%, 28.3%, and 10.8%, respectively. Chronic kidney disease (CKD), troponin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and O2 saturation <90% were significantly associated with the mortality rate. The variables that were significantly associated with ICU admission were heart failure and the use of remdesivir. However, O2 saturation <90% and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were the only variables associated with invasive intubation. The findings of this study suggest that study-related health outcomes can be used to predict the severity of COVID-19, and they can inform future research aiming to identify specific populations who are at a higher risk of COVID-19 complications.

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Examining Its Cutoff Scores among Arab Psychiatric Patients and Healthy Adults within the Context of COVID-19 as a Collective Traumatic Event.

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is the most popular measure of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has been recently validated in Arabic. This instrumental study aimed to determine optimal cutoff scores of the IES-R and its determined six subscales in Arab samples of psychiatric patients (N = 168, 70.8% females) and healthy adults (N = 992, 62.7% females) from Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic as a probable ongoing collective traumatic event. Based on a cutoff score of 14 of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed two optimal points of 39.5 and 30.5 for the IES-R in the samples (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.86 & 0.91, p values = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.80-0.92 & 0.87-0.94, sensitivity = 0.85 & 0.87, specificity = 0.73 & 0.83, Youden index = 0.58 & 0.70, respectively). Different cutoffs were detected for the six subscales of the IES-R, with numbing and avoidance expressing the lowest predictivity for distress. Meanwhile, hyperarousal followed by pandemic-related irritability expressed a stronger predictive capacity for distress than all subscales in both samples. In path analysis, pandemic-related irritability/dysphoric mood evolved as a direct and indirect effect of key PTSD symptoms (intrusion, hyperarousal, and numbing). The irritability dimension of the IES-R directly predicted the traumatic symptoms of sleep disturbance in both samples while sleep disturbance did not predict irritability. The findings suggest the usefulness of the IES-R at a score of 30.5 for detecting adults prone to trauma related distress, with higher scores needed for screening in psychiatric patients. Various PTSD symptoms may induce dysphoric mood, which represents a considerable burden that may induce circadian misalignment and more noxious psychiatric problems/co-morbidities (e.g., sleep disturbance) in both healthy and diseased groups.

Creative Art Therapy for Improving Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Patients with Stroke: A Quasi-Interventional Study.

Introduction: Creative art therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach used to enhance the mental health status of patients. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of creative art therapy on the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in Jordanian patients following stroke. Methods: One-group pretest-posttest design was used; it included four sessions of creative art therapy which were conducted as two sessions for two weeks. This study recruited 85 participants who were within three months poststroke diagnosis. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale was used to assess the levels of psychological reactions pre and post creative art therapy intervention. Results: The data showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the levels of depression (t = 37.98; p < .001), anxiety (t = 20.59, p < .001), and stress (t = 35.52, p < .001) post-intervention. There was a statistically significant improvement in the study-related psychological aspects following creative art therapy. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that creative art therapy is a valuable method to complement other types of treatments among patients with stroke, resulting in positive patient mental health outcomes. Creative art therapy could be used as a psychotherapeutic approach to manage mental health complexities among patients with stroke. Health policymakers are invited to use the findings of this study to establish tailored counselor services using this new psychotherapeutic approach.

Physician's Burnout during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The burnout rate among physicians is expected to be higher during COVID-19 period due to the additional sources of physical and emotional stressors. Throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic, numerous studies have evaluated the impacts of COVID-19 on physicians' burnout, but the reported results have been inconsistent. This current systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess and estimate the epidemiology of burnout and the associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic among physicians. A systematic search for studies targeting physicians' burnout was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Cochrane COVID-19 registry, and pre-print services (PsyArXiv and medRχiv) for English language studies published within the time period of 1 January 2020 to 1 September 2021. Search strategies resulted in 446 possible eligible studies. The titles and abstracts of these studies were screened, which resulted in 34 probable studies for inclusion, while 412 studies were excluded based on the predetermined inclusion criteria. These 34 studies went through a full-text screening for eligibility, which resulted in 30 studies being included in the final reviews and subsequent analyses. Among them, the prevalence of physicians' burnout rate ranged from 6.0-99.8%. This wide variation could be due to the heterogeneity among burnout definitions, different applied assessment tools, and even cultural factors. Further studies may consider other factors when assessing burnout (e.g., the presence of a psychiatric disorders, other work-related and cultural factors). In conclusion, a consistent diagnostic indices for the assessment of burnout is required to enable consistent methods of scoring and interpretation.

Burnout, quality of life and perceived patient adverse events among paediatric nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study aimed to measure burnout, quality of life (QOL) and perceptions of patient-related adverse events among paediatric nurses amid the COVID-19 pandemic and assess the relationships between these scores and participants' demographic and work-related characteristics. BACKGROUND: The mental health of most nurses may severely suffer due to the significant adversities that they struggle with while they care for their patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental distress negatively affects nurses' relationships and work performance, which may adversely influence the quality of care and patient safety. METHODS: A convenient sample of 225 Jordanian paediatric nurses completed a test batter comprising the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, the Brief Version of the World Health Organisation's Quality of Life questionnaire and the nurse-perceived patient adverse events' questionnaire. This study was prepared and is reported according to the STROBE checklist. RESULTS: Paediatric nurses reported high levels of burnout, low QOL and high occurrence of hospital-acquired infections. Participants' age and hospital/unit capacity were significantly associated with burnout and QOL. CONCLUSION: Personal traits, perceived salary insufficiency and hospital/unit capacity represent factors that aggravate burnout, lower quality of life and worsen perceived patient safety among paediatric nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Policymakers should promote nurses' mental integrity and patient safety by addressing issues of workload and financial sufficiency and by provide interventions aimed to increase nurses' resilience. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients or public were not involved in setting the research question, the outcome measures, the design or implementation of the study. However, paediatric nurses responded to the research questionnaires.

Psychometric evaluation of the depression anxiety stress scale 8-items (DASS-8)/DASS-12/DASS-21 among family caregivers of patients with dementia.

Patients with dementia express a set of problematic and deteriorating symptoms, along with self-care dependency. Over time, the mental health of family caregivers of persons with dementia may be affected, putting them at a high risk for psychopathology, which may be associated with endangered wellbeing of people with dementia. This cross-sectional instrumental design study examined the psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), DASS-12, and DASS-21 in a convenient sample of 571 caregivers from northern Italy and southern Switzerland (mean age = 53 years, SD = 12, range = 24-89 years). A bifactor structure of the three measures had the best fit; some items of the DASS-12/DASS-21 failed to load on their domain-specific factors. The three-factor structure was invariant across various groups (e.g., gender and education), expressed adequate reliability and convergent validity, and had strong positive correlation with the three-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS3). Distress scores did not differ among carers of different types of dementia (Alzheimer's disease vs. other types, e.g., vascular dementia). However, distress scores were significantly high among female individuals, adult children caregivers, those caring for dependent patients, and those who received help with care. For 54.9 and 38.8% of the latter, care was provided by relatives and health professionals, respectively. Since the DASS-8 expresses adequate psychometrics comparable with the DASS-21, it may be used as a brief measure of distress in this population.

Psychometric evaluation of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8 among women with chronic non-cancer pelvic pain.

Psychiatric comorbidity and abusive experiences in chronic pelvic pain (CPP) conditions may prolong disease course. This study investigated the psychometrics of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8 (DASS-8) among women with CPP (N = 214, mean age = 33.3 ± 12.4 years). The DASS-8 expressed excellent fit, invariance across age groups and menopausal status, good know-group validity (differentiating women with psychiatric comorbidity from those without comorbidity: U = 2018.0, p = 0.001), discriminant validity (HTMT ratios < 0.85), excellent reliability (alpha = 0.90), adequate predictive and convergent validity indicated by strong correlation with the DASS-21 (r = 0.94) and high values of item-total correlations (r = 0.884 to 0.893). In two-step cluster analysis, the DASS-8 classified women into low- and high-distress clusters (n = 141 and 73), with significantly higher levels of distress, pain severity and duration, and physical symptoms in cluster 2. The DASS-8 positively correlated with pain severity/duration, subjective symptoms of depression/anxiety, experiences of sexual assault, fatigue, headache severity, and collateral physical symptoms (e.g., dizziness, bloating, fatigue etc.) at the same level expressed by the parent scale and the DASS-12, or even greater. Accordingly, distress may represent a target for early identification of psychiatric comorbidity, CPP severity, experiences of sexual assault, and collateral physical complaints. Therefore, the DASS-8 is a useful brief measure, which may detect mental distress symptoms among women with CPP.

Nurses experience of caring for patients with COVID-19: A phenomenological study.

Introduction: COVID-19 has impacted all dimensions of life and imposed serious threat on humankind. Background: In Jordan, understanding how nurses experienced providing care for patients with COVID-19 offers a framework of knowledge about similar situations within the context of Arabic culture. Aim: To explore nurses' experience with providing hands-on care to patients with active COVID-19 infection in an Arabic society. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study interviewed 10 nurses through a purposive sampling approach until data saturation was reached. The research site was hospital designated to receive patients with active COVID-19 infection. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Findings: Three themes were generated from the data: the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on nurses' health; unfamiliar work and social environments; and conforming to professional standards. Discussion: There are specific risks to the physical and mental wellbeing of nurses who provide hands-on care to patients with COVID-19 in an Arabic society. Implication for nursing and health policy: Health care institutions should consider establishing programs that promote nurses' wellbeing and support their productivity in a crisis. A danger pay allowance should be considered for nurses during extraordinary circumstances, such as pandemics.

The moderating role of social support on workplace violence and stress among psychiatric nurses.

Exposure to violent acts is considered one of the major stressful events psychiatric nurses are exposed to. Social support has been found to reduce nurses' stress and alleviate their experience of workplace violence; however, no accounts are available on whether social support moderates the relationship between workplace violence and stress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the moderating role of social support on workplace violence and stress among psychiatric nurses. A cross-sectional descriptive and predictive design was utilized. A total of 195 psychiatric nurses were recruited from two governmental mental health hospitals. The results showed that psychiatric nurses were frequently exposed to violence, both verbally and physically, whether during their entire career or within the past 12 months. Verbal violence was more common among participants than physical abuse. Male nurses and nurses working mix-shift were more likely to experience violent acts. Regression analysis showed that only workplace violence and social support predicted psychiatric nurses' stress. On the other hand, social support did not moderate the relationship between workplace violence and stress. Further research is needed to investigate whether similar findings will conform with the results of this study. Meanwhile, healthcare institutions need to implement strategies to reduce or prevent nurses' exposure to workplace violence and lower their stress levels. Mobilizing and activating social support resources at work are considered other avenues to reduce stress experienced by psychiatric nurses.

Experiences of peer support workers supporting individuals with substance use disorders in Egypt: phenomenological analysis.

BACKGROUND: Peer support work for substance use disorders is widely implemented in high-income countries. More research is still needed to understand its applicability in settings which have proportionately low budgets allocated to mental health. Peer Support Workers are individuals who managed to achieve recovery from substance use disorders and help people remain engaged in their recovery and prevent relapse through shared understanding. AIM: To investigate the experience of peer support workers providing recovery support to people with substance use disorders in Egypt. METHODS: A qualitative phenomenological design was used in which 17 adults working as peer support workers for substance use disorders were recruited by means of purposive and snowball sampling. A semi-structured interview with participants was conducted by phone or video-call. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed based on descriptive phenomenology. RESULTS: Three superordinate themes were identified: role responsibility, Peer Support Workers' need for organizational and stakeholders' support, and challenges to the role integrity. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The findings indicate the need for national and governmental support to peer support workers engaged with people with substance use disorders in Egypt and educating families and the public about the role of peer support workers in substance use disorders.

Emotional Reaction to the First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine: Postvaccination Decline in Anxiety and Stress among Anxious Individuals and Increase among Individuals with Normal Prevaccination Anxiety Levels.

Although vaccination has been adopted by the WHO to limit worldwide transmission of COVID-19, people's worries about COVID-19 vaccines may suppress their desire for vaccination despite vaccine availability. This study aimed to investigate anxiety and stress symptoms among 250 Jordanians (mean age = 43.18 ± 6.34 years, 72% females) who received their first vaccine dose. The respondents completed the anxiety and stress subscales of the Depression Anxiety and Stress scale 21 (DASS-21) before and after vaccination. The respondents expressed more moderate-severe levels of stress before than after vaccination (20.8% and 13.2%, respectively). Meanwhile, 37.2% and 45.2% of the respondents expressed moderate-severe anxiety before and after vaccination, respectively. Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that the drop in the level of stress from before- (median (IQR) = 5 (1-8)) to after vaccination (median (IQR) = 3 (1-7)) was statistically significant (z = -3.81, p = 0.001, r = 0.17) while the increase in anxiety was not. Anxiety significantly dropped postvaccination among individuals experiencing mild to severe anxiety before vaccination. Similarly, stress and anxiety significantly increased among individuals expressing normal anxiety before vaccination (z = -3.57 and -8.24, p values = 0.001, r = 0.16 and 0.37, respectively). Age positively correlated with postvaccination anxiety among respondents with mild prevaccination anxiety, and it negatively correlated with the prevaccination level of stress in the normal-anxiety group. Gender, marital status, respondents' level of education, and history of COVID-19 infection had no significant correlation with anxiety or stress at either point of measurement. Overcoming their hesitancy to receive COVID-19 vaccines, individuals with normal levels of anxiety experienced a rise in their distress symptoms following immunization. On the contrary, vaccination seemed to desensitize anxious individuals. Policymakers need to formulate a population-specific plan to increase vaccine preparedness and promote psychological well-being over all during the pandemic.

The Arabic Version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Psychometric Evaluation among Psychiatric Patients and the General Public within the Context of COVID-19 Outbreak and Quarantine as Collective Traumatic Events.

The Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has provoked the development of negative emotions in almost all societies since it first broke out in late 2019. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is widely used to capture emotions, thoughts, and behaviors evoked by traumatic events, including COVID-19 as a collective and persistent traumatic event. However, there is less agreement on the structure of the IES-R, signifying a need for further investigation. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the IES-R among individuals in Saudi quarantine settings, psychiatric patients, and the general public during the COVID-19 outbreak. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the items of the IES-R present five factors with eigenvalues > 1. Examination of several competing models through confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a best fit for a six-factor structure, which comprises avoidance, intrusion, numbing, hyperarousal, sleep problems, and irritability/dysphoria. Multigroup analysis supported the configural, metric, and scalar invariance of this model across groups of gender, age, and marital status. The IES-R significantly correlated with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8, perceived health status, and perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, denoting good criterion validity. HTMT ratios of all the subscales were below 0.85, denoting good discriminant validity. The values of coefficient alpha in the three samples ranged between 0.90 and 0.93. In path analysis, correlated intrusion and hyperarousal had direct positive effects on avoidance, numbing, sleep, and irritability. Numbing and irritability mediated the indirect effects of intrusion and hyperarousal on sleep and avoidance. This result signifies that cognitive activation is the main factor driving the dynamics underlying the behavioral, emotional, and sleep symptoms of collective COVID-19 trauma. The findings support the robust validity of the Arabic IES-R, indicating it as a sound measure that can be applied to a wide range of traumatic experiences.

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-Items Expresses Robust Psychometric Properties as an Ideal Shorter Version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 Among Healthy Respondents From Three Continents.

To examine the cultural limitations and implications in the applicability of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8)-a shortened version of the DASS-21 recently introduced in an Arab sample-this study evaluated its psychometric properties, including measurement invariance, among healthy subjects from the United States, Australia, and Ghana. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good fit of the DASS-8 relative to a 12-item version (DASS-12). Both the DASS-8 and the DASS-12 were invariant at all levels across genders, employment status, and students vs. non-students. The DASS-8/DASS-12 also expressed invariance at the configural and metric levels across all countries, albeit scalar invariance was not maintained due to misspecification of the factor loadings in the Ghanian sample. Mann-Whitney U test revealed significantly lower levels of mental symptomatology on the DASS measures among Ghanian students than in English-speaking respondents (both students and non-students). The DASS-8 expressed excellent internal consistency (coefficient alpha = 0.89), good convergent validity-noted by high values of item-total correlations (r = 0.87 to 0.88), good predictive validity-indicated by significantly strong correlation with the DASS-21 and its subscales (r = 0.95 to 0.80), and adequate discriminant validity-indicated by heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations <0.85. The DASS-8 correlated with the Internet Gaming Disorder-9, the Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Self-Report Scale, and the Individualism and Collectivism Scale/Culture Orientation Scale at the same level as the DASS-21 and the DASS-12, denoting its adequate criterion validity. The DASS-8 can be used as a brief alternative to the DASS-21 to screen for mental symptomatology in English-speaking and African cultures. However, the same scores on the DASS-8 and the DASS-12 may not always indicate the same level of symptom severity in subjects from different countries. Further inter-cultural evaluations of the DASS-8 are needed.

The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale: its psychometric properties and invariance among women with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Facebook addiction is increasing, giving rise to limited real-life social networks, loneliness, poor work and academic performance, psychopathology, and low well-being. Facebook entails numerous factors that increase the risk for disordered eating attitudes and behaviors (e.g., use time and Facebook activities such as social grooming and photo sharing). This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) among patients with eating disorders (EDs) given lack of validation of Facebook addiction measures in this population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 123 inpatient and outpatient women with EDs (Mean age = 27.3, SD = 10.6, range = 14-59 years) used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), multigroup CFA, structural equation modeling (SEM), Spearman's rho Spearman's analysis, McDonald's Omega (ω), Cronbach's alpha (α), and item-total correlations to examine the structure, invariance, criterion validity, reliability, and discriminant validity of the BFAS. RESULTS: Correlating the residuals of items 2, 3, and 5 resulted in an excellent fit of a one-factor structure of the BFAS (χ2(7) = 8.515, p = .289, CFI = .998, TLI = .996, RMSEA = .042, SRMR = .0099). The BFAS was invariant at the configural, metric, and scalar levels across groups of EDs, age, education, and marital status. High values of ω and α (.96) as well as item-total correlations (.851-.929) indicated excellent reliability and high discrimination index of the BFAS.  Criterion validity is noted by strong positive correlation with the Six-item Internet Addiction Test (S-IAT, r = .88) and SEM using the S-IAT to predict the BFAS (χ2(49) = 103.701, p = .001, CFI = .975, TLI = .966, RMSEA = .096, SRMR = .0317).. CONCLUSION: The BFAS is a reliable unidimensional measure. Its high discrimination index and invariance across different groups make it useful for detecting Facebook addiction among patients with ED.