Gender Roles in the Arab World: Development and Psychometric Properties of the Arab Adolescents Gender Roles Attitude Scale

Psychometric properties of the Arabic versions of the long (27 items) and short (13 items) forms of the interpersonal mindfulness scale (IMS)

BACKGROUND

There is a lack of measures and data on interpersonal mindfulness from non-Western cultures, which can hinder advances in our understanding of the construct, its conceptual representation, and its effects on human connection and relationships within different cultural settings. To fill this gap and help spark future research in this area in the Arab world, the current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the 27-item and the 13-item versions of the interpersonal Mindfulness Scale (IMS) in a sample of Arabic-speaking adolescents from the general population.

METHODS

A web-based survey was conducted in a sample of 527 Lebanese community adolescents (Mean age = 15.73 ± 1.81 years; 56% females). The IMS was translated from English into Arabic using the forward-backward translation method. Participants completed the long and short forms of the IMS, as well as the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form (BPAQ-SF), and the 5-item Brief Irritability Test.

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analyses provided support to the four-factor structure of both the 27-item and the 13-item IMS (i.e., Presence, Awareness of Self and Others, Nonjudgmental Acceptance, and Nonreactivity). The original and the short form versions of the IMS yielded excellent internal consistency in our sample, with a Cronbach's α coefficients of 0.95 and 0.90, and McDonald's omega coefficients of 0.95 and 0.90, respectively. Multigroup comparisons suggested the factorial invariance of the Arabic 27-item and 13-item IMS between male and female participants at the metric, configural, and scalar levels. Finally, the concurrent validity of both full-length and short form of the IMS appeared to be good and comparable, as attested by patterns of correlations in expected directions with outcome variables (i.e., aggression, anger, hostility, and irritability).

CONCLUSION

The present findings provide support for the good psychometric qualities of the Arabic translation of the IMS in both long and short forms, suggesting that these scales are suitable for use to measure interpersonal mindfulness in Arabic-speaking youth, at least in Lebanon. We expect that the IMS, in particular its shortest form, will prompt more systematic investigation of interpersonal mindfulness in the Arabic-speaking populations, especially with regard to enhancing healthy communications with others and building effective social relationships.

Evaluation of the Attitudes of Midwifery Students Towards Gender Roles

Gender is the whole of behaviors, responsibilities, and roles that society expects from women and men. This study was conducted to evaluate the attitudes of midwifery students studying at a university toward gender roles. This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study. This study was conducted at a public university in Istanbul between March and June 2015. The study was completed with 213 midwifery students. During the planning stage of the study, written consent was obtained from the ethics committee and the institution from which the data would be obtained. The "Personal Information Form" and the "Gender Roles Attitude Scale - GRAS" were used in the data collection. SPSS 21 package program was used in the data analysis. It was determined that the age average of the students included in the study was 19.85 ± 1.54 years, 33.3% of them graduated from a Private High School/Anatolian High School, and 38% of them studied in the first grade. The total score obtained by students from the Gender Role Attitudes Scale was 153.48 ± 17.44, and it was found out that they had an egalitarian attitude. It is observed that students who have graduated from a Private/an Anatolian High School have a higher level of scores on the attitude toward gender than those who have graduated from other high school types. It can be stated that midwifery students have an egalitarian attitude toward gender roles and that the education they receive has a positive effect on the egalitarian attitude.