Psychotherapist competency in chronic disease management: Arabic version validity and reliability indicators

Abstract

Background The Psychotherapist Competence Scale for People with Chronic Illnesses' psychometric features assess psychotherapists' capacity to support chronically sick patients. Objectives This study sought to This study examined the psychometric characteristics, validity, and reliability of the Arabic Psychotherapist Competence Scale for Chronic Illnesses. To fit the research context, scale items were translated into Arabic. Methods: The Psychotherapist Competence Scale developed Cox et al. (2019)On a sample of (329) respondents from psychologists who work with sensitive groups in the community. Results: An exploratory component analysis identified four characteristics of the psychotherapist's competence scale for chronic disease patients: relational competence, therapeutic competence, communication efficacy, and diagnostic skills. Factor 1 has the highest dimensions (0.835), (0.688), (0.543), showing significant shared consistency. Factor 2 associated (0.734), (0.673), (0.613) shows a psychological aspect. Factor 3 had an abnormally high loading (1.014), while factor 4 was (0.778), (0.578), (0.563). The four components accounted 39.1% of the variance, with factor 1 explaining 12.37%, factor 2 11.16%, factor 3 9.28%, and factor 4 6.28%, suggesting model improvement. Overall, the model fit was good, with RMSEA = 0.0655 (90% CI: 0.0565 - 0.0749), TLI = 0.830, and CFI = 0.823. However, TLI < 0.90 shows room for improvement. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of 0.816 validated sample adequacy, whereas Bartlett's test (χ² = 1970, df = 210, p < 0.001) supported factor analysis. The connections between components 1, 2, and 3 were moderate, but factor 4 was mostly independent. The reliability analysis showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha 0.678–0.798 and McDonald's Omega-3 0.895. The scale is valid and dependable, according to the results. Conclusion: Psychometric features make the Therapist competency Scale for People with Chronic Illness reliable and relevant for assessing therapist competency. This improves psychosocial interventions and chronic illness care.