Differences in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Health-Related Physical Performance Indices and Academic Achievement: A Comparative Study of Normal-Weight and Obese Children in Qatar.

Background: The relationship between physical activity (PA), health-related physical performance (PP), and academic achievement (AA) plays an important role in childhood. This study examined the differences in PA, sedentary behavior, health-related PP, maturity status, and AA between normal-weight and obese school children in Qatar. Methods: Eighty schoolchildren were recruited (age: 12.1 ± 0.6 years). Based on age-specific BMI percentiles, the children were classified as normal weight (n = 40) or obese (n = 40). Moore's equations were used to estimate their maturity status (PHV). The measurements encompassed anthropometric data as well as PP tests (medicine ball throw, postural stability, handgrip strength). AA was assessed by reviewing school records for grade point average in Mathematics, Science, and Arabic courses. The total amount of time spent participating in PA each week was calculated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form. Results: Handgrip strength was the only parameter that showed a relevant group difference (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.15; normal weight: 19.7 ± 3.46 N; obese: 21.7 ± 2.80 N). We found only one moderate correlation between PHV and handgrip strength (r = 0.59). Conclusions: The findings suggest that obesity status alone might not serve as a sufficient predictor of AA in school or PA levels.

A validation study of the Arabic version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale among undergraduate students.

BACKGROUND: The main aim of this study was to assess the validity of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) and the short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) and to evaluate the metric properties of both versions by using a sample of undergraduate students from three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia). METHODS: Six hundred ninety undergraduate students (340 M and 350 F; mean age = 21.16 ± 2.44) from Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia (NOM = 238, NQA = 215, NSA = 237), voluntarily participated in this cross-section study. All of them responded to the WEMWBS, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Frustration (BPNSFS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The methodology involved utilizing descriptive statistics to understand the data's characteristics, internal consistency analysis for reliability, correlation analysis for convergent validity, confirmatory factor analysis to validate the scales, and measurement invariance testing to ensure cross-group comparability. Model fit indices were employed to gauge the goodness of fit. RESULTS: The translated Arabic versions of the WEMWBS and SWEMWBS showed good reliability, with Cronbach's alpha values of 0.867 and 0.772, respectively. The findings of confirmatory factor analysis asserted the one-factor solution to interpret the item variances of the 14-item WEMWBS and 7-item SWEMWBS. The WEMWBS and SWEMWBS also showed significant positive relationships with need satisfaction and negative relationship with need frustration, and depression. Moreover, the SWEMWBS showed partial scalar invariance across genders and countries, while the WEMWBS showed only partial metric invariance across the three countries and partial scalar invariance across genders. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the appropriateness of both versions of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) in assessing the psychological well-being of Arab undergraduate students. The employment of these tools is strongly encouraged for the assessment of mental well-being within a comparable adult population.

Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction-Frustration Scale (BPNSFS).

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to validate the Arabic version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS), and to investigate the extent of its invariance across five Arab countries and gender. METHODS: A back-translated version of the BPNSFS, the second version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) were administered to a sample consisting of 1082 undergraduate students affiliated with universities in five Arab countries (487 males and 595 females: Mage = 20.04 ± 1.87 years). The data of the BPNSFS were examined for univariate and multivariate normality using Shapiro-Wilk tests and Mardia's coefficient, respectively. To evaluate and compare the four models with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we used the following goodness-of-fit indices: the chi-square value (χ2), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), Root Mean-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Baysian Information Criterion (BIC). A multi-group CFA [Byrne in Structural equation modeling with EQS: basic concepts, applications, and programming, Routledge, Abingdon, 2013] on the BPNSFS structure to examine its invariance across the five Arab countries and across genders. RESULTS: The results of confirmatory factor analysis supported the generalizability of the BPNSFS's six-factor model to the five Arab countries. The relationships between the six psychological needs satisfaction and frustrations and both mental health and symptoms of depression provide additional evidence on the construct validity of the BPNSFS through cross cultural data. The findings of BPNSFS's measurement invariance across males and females and across the five Arab countries help ensure that the latent means are comparable across these different groups. CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that the Arabic version of the BPNSFS which measures satisfaction and frustration of the three basic needs (autonomy, competency, and relatedness) is proved to be invariant across the five Arab countries and gender and can be used to compare the basic psychological needs in the Arab context.