ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Positive Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1583111

This article is part of the Research TopicAssessing Well-being From the Third World: Psychometric Developments From Non-WEIRD CountriesView all 4 articles

Measurement of purpose in life among Arabic-speaking adolescents: Psychometric Properties of an Arabic-language version of the Claremont Purpose Scale (CPS)

Provisionally accepted
Amir NoureddineAmir Noureddine1Souheil HallitSouheil Hallit1*Diana MalaebDiana Malaeb2Fouad SakrFouad Sakr3Mariam DabbousMariam Dabbous3Tylor CosgroveTylor Cosgrove4Sahar ObeidSahar Obeid5Feten Fekih-RomdhaneFeten Fekih-Romdhane6*Ahmed MoustafaAhmed Moustafa4
  • 1Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon
  • 2Gulf Medical University, Ajman, Ajman, United Arab Emirates
  • 3Lebanese International University, Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
  • 4School of Psychology, Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
  • 5Lebanese American University, Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
  • 6Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia

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Background: Purpose in life is considered a protective factor related to one's ability to thrive, supporting positive development and overall psychological well-being of the adolescent. The main goal of our study is to adapt and validate the Claremont Purpose Scale (CPS) into the Arabic language, expanding its its applicability to Arabic-speaking contexts.Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study was collected via a Google Form link during November 2023.Lebanese adolescents aged 14 to 18 years (N=793, 62.4% females, mean age of 16.08 ± 1.74 years) were recruited using an online questionnaire and a snowball sampling technique.The fit of the three-factor structure of CPS scores was satisfactory as indicated by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Internal reliability was excellent (α=.86; ω=.87). Measurement invariance across sex groups was established at the metric, configural, and scalar levels. There was no significant difference between male and female respondents in terms of CPS scores. Finally, CPS total scores were significantly correlated with greater depression-happiness (r=.43; p<.001), higher wellbeing (r= .51; p< .001), and lower irritability (r=-.66; p<.001), attesting to concurrent validity.Our results suggest that the CPS in its Arabic version is a valid and reliable measure allowing to detect the sense of purpose in Arabic-speaking adolescents, at least from Lebanon. The new validated scale has potential for future practitioners and researchers who would ought to work on ways of improving the psychological functioning of adolescents drawn from an Arab culture.

Keywords: Purpose in life, Claremont Purpose Scale, Validation, psychometric properties, adolescents, Arabic

Received: 25 Feb 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Noureddine, Hallit, Malaeb, Sakr, Dabbous, Cosgrove, Obeid, Fekih-Romdhane and Moustafa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Souheil Hallit, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon
Feten Fekih-Romdhane, Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia

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