Initial Development of the Brief Arab Religious Coping Scale (BARCS)

This project aimed to develop a brief and culturally sensitive measure of positive religious coping that could be useful in research with Arab Americans of both Christian and Muslim affiliations. In Study 1,62 items were generated based on previous religious coping measures and knowledge of religious practices in the Arab community. Seventy-six community respondents completed this pilot questionnaire. Based on Rasch rating scale analysis, 15 items were retained for the Brief Arab Religious Coping Scale (BARCS). In Study 2, the BARCS was completed by an Internet sample of 599 Arab Americans. The measure demonstrated excellent reliability and strong internal validity, although it did not correlate with acculturation stress and depression as expected. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.