A twelve-country psychometric validation study of the Arabic version of the social pain Questionnaire (SPQ)

The concept of social pain refers to the affective response (that is, painful feelings) triggered by social exclusion, rejection or loss. To our knowledge, there is currently no valid instrument available in the Arabic language to measure the social pain construct. 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. A cross-sectional web-based study was carried-out from February to April 2024 in 8408 adults from 12 Arab countries. 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. Cronbach’s alpha of 0.94 indicated 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. The Arabic translated version of the SPQ was found to be valid, reliable and suitable for use to assess social pain as an important emotional experience among Arabic-speaking adults from the general population.