The Arabic versions of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaires (MTQ): Psychometric properties among athlete and non-athlete youth

Background Mentally tough individuals perform well during adversities while maintaining or even maximizing their psychological growth. Therefore, research focuses on enhancing mental toughness, with more stress on the rigor of mental toughness measures, especially the shortened versions. Aim This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Arabic versions of the ten- and six-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ) among Tunisian youth (N = 853, mean age = 20.4 ± 4.1 years, 47.9% athletes). Methods The unidimensional MTQ-6 and four structures of the MTQ-10 were examined through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multigroup CFA. Their concurrent and predictive validity was examined through correlations with each other and with the MTQ-48. Results The MTQ-6 displayed excellent fit while all structures of the MTQ-10, except the bifactor structure, expressed acceptable fit. The four models were invariant at the configural, metric, scalar, and strict levels across gender and practicing sport. The two- and four-factor MTQ-10 displayed inter-factor correlations above 1. The MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 had strong significant positive correlations with each other as well as with the MTQ-48 and its subscales (all p values < 0.01). The reliability of the MTQ-6 and the MTQ-10 was inadequate while the reliability of the MTQ-48 was acceptable (coefficient alpha = .28, .40, .72 and, respectively). Conclusion The shortened MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 reflect mental toughness as a global dimension across Arab men and women both athletes and non-athletes. Low reliability of both measures flags probable measurement flaws, necessitating further investigations in more Arab countries.