Arabic validation and cross-cultural adaptation of climate anxiety scale

Background: Climate change is an enduring global phenomenon that describes a long-lasting effect of change in weather and temperature of the earth. This study aimed to validate an Arabic version of the Climate Anxiety Scale (ACAS) to assess the anxiety associated with climate change. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using both online via Google Forms and face-to-face via hard copies, in five Arab countries, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). The internal consistency of the scale was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) conducted over principal component analysis assessed the scale dimensionality. Then, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to investigate the EFA hypothesis of ACAS on anxiety about climate change. Results: Of the 350 participants, 54.9 % were female, 77.7% lived in urban areas, 15.4% were from North Africa, 46.6 % were from Arab Gulf countries, and 38.0 % were from Bilad Al-Sham. Nearly two-thirds (62.3%) were single, 72.3% had a university degree, 94.9% were aware of climate change, 38.3 % participated in environmental protection programs, and 62.3% reported climate-related anxiety. The item content validity index (CVI) was 0.82–1.00, and the scale CVI (S-CVI) was 0.95. Overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.925 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.902–0.940]. The Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) test was 0.93, and Bartlett's test was significant (χ2 = 2762.6 p < 0.001). Bifactor model indices showed high explained common variance (ECV) (0.78), ωH (0.85), relative omega (0.91), H index (0.93), and factor determinacy (FD) (0.96) for the general factor. The general factor explained 78% of the common variance, whereas the group factors shared 22.0%. Model reliability coefficient omega (omega/omega S) for general factor, functional domain, and cognitive domain were 0.94, 0.92, and 0.89, respectively, suggesting a satisfactory fit threshold. Conclusions: The ACAS tool is valid and reliable for assessing anxiety-related climate change among the Arab Population.