Validation of the Arabic version of the Assessing Emotions Scale measuring emotional intelligence in a Lebanese sample

The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of the Arabic version of the Assessing Emotions Scale (AES-Ar) among a sample of Lebanese young adults. A total of 402 Lebanese university students and their contacts were recruited for the study. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) investigated the structure of the scale. The CFA for investigating a four-factor solution using all items showed the fit indices were acceptable (chi(2)/df = 1803.15/489 = 3.69; RMSEA = 0.082 [0.078-0.086]; CFI = 0.88; TLI = 0.87) but the loading of the negatively worded items 5, 28 and 33 were low on their respective factors. When testing the four-factor model after removing items 5, 28 and 33, the results improved further with good fit indices of the model (chi(2)/df = 1383.184/399 = 3.46, RMSEA = 0.078 [0.074-0.0832], CFI = 0.91 and TLI = 0.90) and good factor loading of each item on each factor, respectively. No measurement invariance was found between genders. The AES-Ar Cronbach's alpha was excellent (0.976). Higher Assessing Emotions Scale-Ar scores, based on the 30 positively worded items, were significantly associated with greater self-esteem (r = .547; p < .001), and less depression (r = -.295; p < .001). Our results suggest that the AES-Ar is appropriate for use to measure emotional intelligence in Arabic-speaking populations.