Translation and Validation of the Arabic Version of the Revised Restrictive Behaviours Scale Among Iraqi Children...

Comprehensive scales should be used to better understand the patterns of restrictive and repetitive behaviours in children with autism spectrum disorder in middle and lower-income countries. This study aimed to validate an Arabic translation of the revised Repetitive Behaviours Scale.

Parents of 258 children were interviewed in a cross-sectional study conducted at Al-Subtain Academy from December 1, 2023, to August 1, 2024. The R Language and Environment for Statistical Programing v4.4.2 was utilised for statistical analysis.

Following confirmatory factor analysis, the 6-factor solution was selected for further testing based on more favourable fitness indices and the 2-factor solution was selected based on an acceptable RMSEA of 0.064 and evidence of cross-cultural validity from previous validations. The 2-factor solution demonstrated better subscales' reliability, with composite coefficients of 0.801 and 0.908, and corrected item-total correlations that are more consistent with the theoretical framework for the scale. A modification for this model was suggested based on item performance and demonstrated a marginal improvement in the CFI and TLI indices.

The Arabic revised repetitive behaviours scale demonstrates a valid and reliable structure, aligning with the conceptual classification of repetitive and restrictive behaviours into repetitive sensory-motor behaviours and insistence on sameness.