A twelve-country population-based psychometric validation study of the Arabic version of the Social Pain Questionnaire (SPQ)

Abstract

Background: To our knowledge, there is currently no valid instrument available in the Arabic language to measure the social pain construct. In addition, we could find no previous studies that evaluated social pain in Arabic-speaking individuals of Arab origin. This is a clear gap, especially given the evidence that emotional responses to social rejection vary across cultures. The present study aims to examine the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the Social Pain Questionnaire (SPQ) in Arabic-speaking adults from the general population of different Arab countries. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based study was carried-out from February to April 2024 in 12 Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Tunisia. A total of 8408 adults from the general population filled the survey, with a mean age of 24.70 ± 8.44 years and 74.5% females. Results: Our findings showed that all 10 items of the Arabic version loaded on one factor and provided a good fit to the data in the present sample. Both the Cronbach's alpha and McDonald’s Omega were greater than 0.9, indicating excellent internal reliability. Multi-level CFA showed that the Arabic version of the SPQ was invariant between adult sex-groups and across countries. Convergent and divergent validity of the scale were evidenced through significant positive correlations between social pain and measures of anxiety, depression, and psychotic experiences severity. In addition, SPQ scores negatively correlated with self-esteem levels. Conclusion: The Arabic translated version of the SPQ was found to be valid, reliable and suitable for use among Arabic-speaking adults from the general population. The Arabic validated SPQ may help shed light on social pain as an important emotional experience that can “hurt” and have serious health effects just as much as physical pain.