Filter by type:

Sort by year:

College Students' Mindfulness, Resilience, Flourishing, and Academic Success: An Exploratory Study from Egypt

Journal
Walid Massoud, Marei Ahmed, Christine Agaibi, Najeh Rajeh Alsalhi
Massoud, W., Ahmed, M., Agaibi, C., & Alsalhi, N. R. (2023). College Students' Mindfulness, Resilience, Flourishing, and Academic Success: An Exploratory Study from Egypt.

Limited research has been conducted on the influence of mindfulness, resilience, and well-being on academic achievement within the context of Arabic culture, particularly in higher education. The main objectives of this study are twofold. Firstly, to establish the validity of the Arabic version of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the Brief Resilience Scale and to assess their factor structure using a sample from Egypt. Secondly, to investigate the proposed model that explores the mediating role of resilience and well-being in the associations between mindfulness and academic outcomes Two separate studies were undertaken, involving a total of 883 college students from Egypt (n1 = 486; n2 = 397). The administration of mindfulness, resilience, and flourishing scales was conducted as a means of measuring well-being. The utilisation of the grade point average (GPA) served as a metric for measuring academic achievement. Grade point average (GPA) scores were calculated by taking the average of the scores achieved in the modules completed during the first semester. The findings of the study indicate that the scales measuring mindfulness and resilience in the Egyptian sample are unidimensional. Significant correlations were observed between mindfulness, resilience, flourishing, and GPA. Two CFA models were analysed, and it was found that the second model exhibited a complete alignment with the data, specifically in relation to the mediator variables of resilience and flourishing. Resilience and flourishing serve as mediators within the association linking mindfulness and grade point average (GPA). There exists a positive correlation between the practice of mindfulness and academic performance, as measured by the grade point average (GPA).

Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths Reduced Set for Nine Arab Countries

Journal
Salama-Younes, M., Massoud, W., Fenouillet, F., Kharbouch, A., Eltahir, A., Alraheem, A., Kazem, A., Osman, A., Abu Ghali, E., Kerkouche, F. ., Yousfi, H., Goltan, H., Bia, J., Gady, N., Al Kafagy, N., Ahmed, N., Al-Arja, N., Elyahfoufy, N., Abdelati, S., Elgedawy, S., Al-Said, T., & Park, N.
Salama-Younes, M., Massoud, W., Fenouillet, F., Kharbouch, A., Eltahir, A., Alraheem, A., Kazem, A., Osman, A., Abu Ghali, E., Kerkouche, F. ., Yousfi, H., Goltan, H., Bia, J., Gady, N., Al Kafagy, N., Ahmed, N., Al-Arja, N., Elyahfoufy, N., Abdelati, S., Elgedawy, S., Al-Said, T., & Park, N. (2023). Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths Reduced Set for Nine Arab Countries. Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, 9, 21–37. Retrieved from https://www.middleeastjournalofpositivepsychology.org/index.php/mejpp/article/view/157

Positive psychology has put forward in recent years a classification of character strengths to identify an individual’s unique combination of virtues and attributes that contribute to their overall well-being and flourishing in life. To measure these strengths, the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) has been created and widely used. In the present study, we use Ng et al. (2017) VIA-RS Reduced Set (107 items) to explore the structure validity of an Arabic version. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted on data from nine Arab countries; four African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan) and five Asian countries (Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Oman, Palestine). Many factor models were tested, but only the four-dimension model showed a good fit. Measurement invariance was established across the countries, sex, and age groups. Results offered strong support based on strict tests for the factor structure of the reduced set. Consistent support was found for configural and metric invariance between countries, and scalar invariance was demonstrated under some circumstances. Support was also found for configural, metric, and scalar invariance for sex and age differences.