The Arabic Control Attitudes Scale-Revised: Method Effect (Negatively Worded Items) and Measurement Invariance as...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cardiology
• Health Sciences

Background:

• The Control Attitudes Scale-Revised (CAS-R) assesses cardiac patients' illness management beliefs.
• Its construct validity may be compromised in diverse cultural settings.
• Inaccurate construct validity can lead to misleading conclusions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the CAS-R.
• To assess the construct validity and measurement invariance of the CAS-R in Omani patients.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study with 180 Omani heart failure patients.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed.
• Multigroup CFA examined measurement invariance across gender and marital status.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis suggested a 2-factor structure explaining 37.9% of variance.
• Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an excellent fit for a 2-factor model.
• Eliminating negative items (5, 8) and item 6 improved model fit, reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.66), and invariance.

Conclusions:

• Negative items formed an unstable, minor factor related to helplessness.
• A revised 5-item scale (CAS-R 5) showed superior psychometric properties.
• The CAS-R 5 is an invariant short form potentially informing nursing interventions for perceived control.