Structural and concurrent validity of the short 10-item Arabic clance impostor phenomenon scale: A follow-up validation against the original 20-item tool.

Abstract

The impostor phenomenon (IP) has been linked to anxiety, depression, and burnout. The widely used 20-item Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS-20) may be burdensome in research and applied contexts. While a 10-item short form (CIPS-10) has demonstrated strong psychometric performance internationally, the Arabic version has not been psychometrically tested. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the structural and construct validity of the Arabic CIPS-10. We conducted a cross-sectional validation study ted using a secondary analysis of Arabic CIPS-20 and new data from 679 undergraduates (mean age 21.0 years, SD = 1.92) from three Saudi universities who completed an electronic survey that included the CIPS-20 and IPSS-3. Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω assessed internal consistency. We used principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlations to examine structural validity and convergent validity, respectively. The Arabic CIPS-10 demonstrated excellent reliability (α =0.888; ω =0.889), with satisfactory item-rest correlations (0.505-0.742). Sampling adequacy was high (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin [KMO] =0.913), and Bartlett's test was significant (χ²(45) =2855, <i>P</i> < .001). The PCA supported a unidimensional structure, with the first component (eigenvalue = 5.02) explaining 50.2% of the variance and factor loadings ranging from 0.590 to 0.811. The CIPS-10 correlated strongly with the CIPS-20 (r = 0.963, 95% CI 0.957-0.968, <i>P</i> < .001) and moderately with the IPSS-3 (r = 0.532, 95% CI 0.425-0.624, <i>P</i> < .001). The Arabic CIPS-10 is psychometrically sound and efficient, offering a practical alternative to the full CIPS-20 for assessing the impostor phenomenon in Arabic-speaking populations.