Psychometric Properties of the Arabic Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Ar-MLQ) among Prison Inmates in the Saudi Arabian Context

Objectives: This study aims to validate the translated Arabic version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Steger et al. (2006) for use with prison inmates. Methods: The participants are 400 Saudi and non-Saudi prison inmates from the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia, 250 (62.5%) males and 150 (37.5%) females, aged 18 years and older. The researchers translate the original (English) version of the MLQ (Steger et al., 2006) into Arabic following forward to backward translation procedures, and the participants then complete the Arabic MLQ (Ar-MLQ). Further, then they examine the Ar-MLQ’s psychometric properties using reliability and factor analyses. Results: Our findings indicate that the hypothesized two-factor model of the MLQ fits the data well for the study sample. In the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the two-factor solution is supported, and adequate reliability indexes are achieved. For the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the two-factor model (the MLQ-P and MLQ-S sub-scales) presents better goodness-of-fit indexes than the one-factor model. Conclusions: The findings suggest the Ar-MLQ’s applicability for further research on Meaning in Life in the Saudi Arabian context within similar groups.