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

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 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article 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youth Amira M. Ali, Saeed A. Al-Dossary, Sawsan Abuhammad, Carlos Laranjeira, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598461/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract 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. Psychology Psychiatry Educational Philosophy and Theory Educational Psychology Mental Toughness Questionnaire MTQ shortened form MTQ-6 MTQ-10 factor structure validity psychometric invariance gender men women sport athletes non-athletes Arab Tunis youth Figures Figure 1 Introduction The earliest description of mental toughness dates back to 1955 as Cattell and colleagues described “tough-mindedness’’ as a personality trait that reflects the philosophy of being realistic, self-reliant, and responsible rather than being emotionally sensitive. It is shaped by cultural or environmental factors, and it plays a key role in an individual's success [1]. The concept of mental toughness has quickly gained popularity in sport and exercise psychology over the past two decades [2]. Evidence indicates that genetics account for 50% of the variation in mental toughness, which may have possible implications for developing interventions that grow this characteristic and foster achievement in a variety of settings [3]. Drawing from hardiness theory, Clough developed a multidimensional model that operationalizes mental toughness as a resource that devotes four independent but inter-related components to enable task execution and thereby promote positive mental health as well as protect against, buffer or counteract stress [3,4]. The model was developed to elaborate on how responses (e.g., sport-related) are accommodated, with a focus on confidence in one’s abilities, reappraisal of stressful events as opportunities for self-development, and proactive seeking of opportunities for personal growth [3]. These components include: 1) Confidence “belief in abilities, self-worth, and capacity to effectively manage interpersonal interactions and social settings ”, 2) Control “propensity to feel empowered and capable of regulating own life and emotions e.g., manage anxieties and stress”, 3) Commitment “strong commitment to achieving goals, even in the face of difficulties”, and 4) Challenge “tendency to perceive threats as opportunities for self-development” [4,5]. The Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ) comprised 48 that cover Clough’s components, and it underwent extensive examinations [6–8]. The Control and Confidence components have been further divided, with the addition of two more components to the model in some investigations (Confidence in Abilities and Interpersonal Confidence) [4,8]. Inconsistent reports on the psychometric characteristics of the MTQ derived researchers to develop shorter versions that inherit the content of the MTQ while enjoying a better psychometric performance [6,9]. Four simplified forms of the MTQ are reported in the literature. Two versions comprise 18 items: 1) the 18-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-18), which comprises item 2 on Control Life; items 21, 27, 31, 37 on Control Emotion; items 3, 13, 16, 36 on Confidence Abilities; items 17, 43, 46 on Confidence Interpersonal; items 11, 35, 42 on Commitment; and items 14, 23, 30 on Challenge [5,9], and 2) the short form Mental Toughness Questionnaire (S-MTQ), which comprised 13 items that were only selected by a panel of experts from all 48 items of the original scale in face and content validity tests in addition to five items with the next highest scores of Content Validity Index (CVI) to have a minimum of three items on each of the six components—items 7, 29, 47 on Commitment; items 4, 44, 48 on Challenge; items 2, 12, 41 on Control Life; items 27, 31, 45 on Control Emotion; items 8, 18, 24 on Confidence Abilities; and items 20, 43, 46 on Confidence Interpersonal [6]. A systematic review rates Clough’s 18-item version (MTQ-18), not the parent scale, as the second of three toughness measures that display psychometric adequacy in terms of structural validity, internal consistency, and hypothesis testing domains [7]. Nonetheless, absence of details on the rationale and processes of item selection is a cause of explicit concerns that surround the MTQ-18 [6,9]. Meanwhile, we could not locate any subsequent study validating S-MTQ, possibly because it included two items with lower CVI than other items because they were the only items to pertain to abilities. Additionally, investigations of the unidimensional, four- factor, six-factor, and bifactor structures of that version both through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) revealed poor fit at varying degrees, with some items failing to load significantly (many items have loading “λs” ranging from 0.05 to 0.14) on their domain-specific factors or on the general factor [6]. In the meantime, the 10-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-10) has been developed recently as a 12-item measure so that it would comprise 3 items with the highest loadings on each of the four components. However, two items (one from Challenge and Commitment) have been removed because they had low loadings (< .3 ) on the general factor [10]. The very next testing of the MTQ-10 included examinations of the unidimensional, four-factor, and bifactor structures relative to various structures of the MTQ-18 among students aged 16 years from English independent schools. The unidimensional factor of the MTQ-10 expressed the best fit, signifying this shortened version as a superior global index than the widely used multi-dimension MTQ-18 [9]. Four models of the MTQ-10 were tested in a subsequent investigation involving online samples of social network users from the UK, Greece, and Italy [4]. The analyses comprised three unidimensional models: 1) crude model, 2) with error correlations of two pairs of items “2 with 6 and 3 with 7”, 3) with extensive error correlations of the four items with each other. It also evaluated a bifactor model comprising all items on a general factor and the aforementioned items (2, 3, 6, and 7) on another item noted as a method effect factor because the four items are negatively worded/reverse coded. The study revealed partial invariance of the unidimensional MTQ-10 across countries as an effect of specific pairs of negative items rather than a strict method effect [4]. In another study, the MTQ-10 was reported as unidimensional in a composite model comprising other positive structures such as self-efficacy [11]. Unlike the MTQ-10, which comprises positively and negatively worded items, the MTQ-6 “also termed the Very Short MTQ” comprises only positively worded items. It has been developed in a large-scale Japanese study, which extensively evaluated the MTQ-48 and the MTQ-18 [6]. Because of failure of various models of both scales as well as limitations in the multidimensional 18-item S-MTQ, which was developed in the same study; the authors decided to develop the MTQ-6 as a global unidimensional measure. They tested four models each comprising six items selected from the S-MTQ—each item would represent one of the six components of mental toughness. The model expressing excellent fit comprised items 4, 7, 8, 12, 20 and 31, which all had 100% CVI scores of 12 and high loadings with λs ranging from 0.42 to 69 [6]. They attempted to avoid systematic measurement errors that arise from wording effect/shared method (i.e., item polarity and question content/phrasing) that are reported for the MTQ-10 [4] by refraining from the inclusion of reverse-coded items. This final version displayed acceptable internal consistency (0.72) [6]. Until the current moment, the MTQ-6 has not been tested in any context while the MTQ-10 has been examined only in three European studies, with lack of information on its performance in other cultural contexts. The MTQ has been already evaluated in an Arab context [12] while noting the lack of psychometric evidence for the MTQ-18/S-MTQ, along with the need for a free and easily administrable short measure [6,9,10], the current study fills a gap in the literature by testing the Arabic version of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 shortened versions. It is focused on testing the construct validity of both measures, their concurrent validity in relevance to each other, as well as their predictive validity in relevance to the original whole scale, MTQ-48. In this respect, we hypothesized that the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 would 1) be better expressed by a unidimensional structure, 2) would positively correlate with each other, and 3) would positively correlate with the MTQ-48 and its six subscales. Materials and methods Sample and procedure Data were collected during September 2019 through a cross-sectional survey of a non-random sample of 853 Tunisian youth. The participants, including those below the age of 18, signed an informed consent form before completing the survey. An ethical approval has been already available from the Institutional Review Committee of University of Manouba, Tunisia before data collection [12]. Meanwhile, a public dataset has been obtained and used in the current study [13]. Therefore, another ethical approval was not obtained for the current analyses. Details on how the survey was conducted as well as on what inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered while recruiting the sample are not clearly available [12]. Measures The test battery used for data collection prompted the respondents to report their age, gender, and whether they participated in any sport before responding to the 48-item MTQ. Mental Toughness Questionnaire-48 is a context-free, self-report tool, which comprises 48 items (22 of them are negatively worded) in six subscales that address individual's level of the four components of mental toughness: commitment, challenge, control (emotion and life) and confidence (abilities and interpersonal). Respondents rate their agreement to each item on a five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) [5]. The scale has been translated from English into Arabic according to standard procedures [12]. The MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 were nested within the MTQ-48. The reliability of the MTQ-48 in this study is acceptable (coefficient alpha = .72). Statistical analysis CFA with maximum likelihood method of estimation was used to test five competing models in the current study: Model 1 evaluated the unidimensional structure of the six-item version (MTQ-6) [6] while Models 2 to 5 evaluated the unidimensional, two-factor “negative worded items 2, 3, 6, 7 on one factor and the rest of items on the other”, four-factor, and bifactor (negative worded items on one factor and all items on a general factor) structures of the ten-item version (MTQ-10) [4,9]. Model fit was judged acceptable or good if χ 2 was non-significant, in addition to Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) above the thresholds 0.90 and 0.95, along with root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and standardized root mean residual (SRMR) below the thresholds 0.08 and 0.06, respectively [14,15]. All MTQ structures, except the bifactor model, were examined for measurement invariance across gender and practicing sport (athletes vs non-athletes) through four nested models that test configural, metric/weak, scalar/strong, and strict invariance including: 1) unconstrained model with free estimation of factor loadings across groups, 2) constraining the loadings of items to be equal across groups, 3) constraining both item loadings and intercepts to be equal across groups, which allows comparisons at the level of latent means, and 4) constraining residuals to be equal across groups, respectively [16,17]. Ideally, Δχ 2 of the nested models should be non-significant. Nonetheless, χ 2 is sensitive to sample size [18], necessitating the use of other parameters to determine if significant differences develop at the configural, metric, and scalar levels as a result of imposing increasingly restrictive constraints on item loadings, intercepts, and residuals. Accordingly, cutoffs of three absolute fit indices are used: ΔCFI and ΔTLI below 0.020 and ΔRMSEA below 0.015 [19,20]. The reliability of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 was evaluated by coefficient alpha while item-total correlations were used to detect scale convergent validity. The MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 comprise different sets of items—they have only one item in common (item 31). Therefore, concurrent validity tests were conducted by correlating both shortened versions with each other. The predictive validity of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 was evaluated by correlating both measures and the positive and negative domains of the MTQ-10 with the MTQ-48 and its six components (Challenge, Commitment, Emotional Control, Life Control, Confidence Abilities, Interpersonal Confidence). The normality of the three MTQ measures was examined through Kolmogorov test [19]. Based on normality tests, differences in the MTQ measures between males and females as well as athletes and non-athletes were examined by Mann Whitney U test. The analyses were performed in SPSS (IBM: version 22) and AMOS (IBM: version 24). Results from two tailed tests were considered significant at a probability of < 0.05. Results The sample comprised 853 respondents who had an average age of 20.4 ± 4.1 years (range = 14 to 27 years). Around half the respondents were females (n = 443, 51.9%) and athletes (n = 409, 47.9%). For all items of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10, univariate skewness and kurtosis tests displayed satisfactory values between − 2.0 and + 2.0 (Supplementary Materials: Table 1 and Table 2 ). CFA analysis revealed excellent fit of the unidimensional MTQ-6 and acceptable fit of all structures of the MTQ-10 (Table 1 ), except for the bifactor structure, which failed to converge (Supplementary Material: Fig. 1 ). Although all items loaded significantly on their domain-specific factors in all models, item loadings were generally low (Fig. 1 ). Table 1 Goodness-of-fit of the confirmatory factor analysis models representing the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) among Tunisian youth (N = 853) Models χ 2 p DF CMIN/DF CFI TLI● RMSEA RMSEA 90% CI SRMR Model 1 (MTQ-6 1F) 6.03 0.736 9 0.67 1.000 1.000 0.000 0.000 to 0.028 0.0172 Model 2 (MTQ-10 1F) 43.05 0.165 35 5.22 0.931 0.911 0.016 0.000 to 0.031 0.0274 Model 3 (MTQ-10 2F) 40.27 0.212 34 1.18 0.946 0.929 0.015 0.000 to 0.030 0.0274 Model 4 (MTQ-10 4F) 35.38 0.192 29 1.22 0.945 0.915 0.016 0.000 to 0.032 0.0256 Abbreviations: χ 2 , chi-square; DF, degrees of freedom; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker–Lewis index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; CI, confidence interval; SRMR, standardized root mean residual; ●, TLI values greater than 1 have been rounded. Table 2 Invariance of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) across gender among Tunisian youth (N = 853) MTQ Models Invariance levels χ 2 DF P Δχ 2 ΔDF p (Δχ 2 ) CFI ΔCFI TLI● ΔTLI RMSEA ΔRMSEA SRMR MTQ-6 1F (Model 1) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 17.93 20.42 21.34 26.39 18 23 24 30 .460 .617 .619 .655 2.49 0.92 5.06 5 1 6 0.779 0.337 0.536 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .0347 .0364 .0377 .0383 MTQ-10 1F (Model 2) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 89.10 94.63 95.64 102.88 70 79 80 90 .061 .111 .112 .167 5.53 1.00 7.24 9 1 10 0.786 0.317 0.703 .845 .874 .874 .896 0.029 0.000 0.022 .801 .856 .858 .896 0.055 -0.002 -0.038 .018 .015 .015 .013 0.003 0.000 0.002 .0451 .0472 .0474 .0474 MTQ-10 2F (Model 3) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 83.69 91.70 93.22 100.16 68 76 79 89 .095 .106 .131 .197 8.02 1.52 6.95 8 3 10 0.432 0.679 0.730 .873 .873 .885 .910 0.000 -0.011 0.025 .832 .850 .869 .909 0.018 -0.019 0.040 .016 .016 .015 .012 0.000 0.001 0.003 .0445 .0473 .0473 .0473 MTQ-10 4F (Model 4) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 75.73 81.38 87.27 95.27 58 64 74 84 .059 .070 .139 .188 5.65 5.89 8.00 6 10 10 0.464 0.824 0.629 .857 .859 .893 .909 -0.002 -0.034 -0.016 .777 .802 .869 .902 -0.025 -0.067 -0.033 .019 .018 .015 .013 0.001 0.003 0.002 .0405 .0414 .0438 .0442 Abbreviations: χ 2 , chi-square; DF, degree of freedom; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker–Lewis index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; CI, confidence interval; SRMR, standardized root mean residual; ●, TLI values greater than 1 have been rounded. As shown in Table 2 and Table 3 the unidimensional MTQ-6 as well as the unidimensional, two-factor, and four-factor MTQ-10 displayed invariance at all levels across groups of gender and practicing sport—ΔCFI and ΔTLI indicate a tendency toward variance at the configural, scalar, and strict levels of the MTQ-10 structure across gender (Table 2 ), albeit ΔRMSEA was within acceptable limits. According to Mann Whitney U test, there were no significant differences in all MTQ measures between male and female participants or between athletes and non-athletes (Supplementary Materials: Table 4 and Table 6). Table 3 Invariance of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) across athletes and non-athletes among Tunisian youth (N = 853) MTQ Models Invariance levels χ 2 DF P Δχ 2 ΔDF p (Δχ 2 ) CFI ΔCFI TLI● ΔTLI RMSEA ΔRMSEA SRMR MTQ-6 1F (Model 1) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 15.81 18.74 18.81 20.80 18 23 24 30 .606 .716 .762 .894 2.93 0.07 1.98 5 1 6 0.711 0.787 0.921 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .0277 .0319 .0318 .0321 MTQ-10 1F (Model 2) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 67.23 71.23 74.17 76.77 70 79 80 90 .572 .721 .663 .839 4.00 2.95 2.60 9 1 10 0.912 0.086 0.989 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .0363 .0374 .0397 .0396 MTQ-10 2F (Model 3) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 64.82 67.24 71.29 74.03 68 76 79 89 .587 .753 .719 .873 2.41 4.06 2.74 8 3 10 0.966 0.256 0.987 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .0356 .0366 .0390 .0389 MTQ-10 4F (Model 4) Configural Metric Scalar Strict 55.58 59.55 66.43 69.14 58 64 74 84 .566 .634 .722 .879 3.97 6.88 2.71 6 10 10 0.680 0.737 0.987 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .0334 .0345 .0381 .0381 Abbreviations: χ 2 , chi-square; DF, degree of freedom; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker–Lewis index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; CI, confidence interval; SRMR, standardized root mean residual; ●, TLI values greater than 1 have been rounded. Table 4 Concurrent validity and predictive validity of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) among Tunisian youth (N = 853) MTQ measures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 1. MTQ-6 — 2. MTQ-10 .346 ** — 3. MTQ-10: Positive items .348 ** .853 ** — 4. MTQ-10: Negative items .178 ** .718 ** .274 ** — 5. MTQ-48 .551 ** .676 ** .559 ** .519 ** — 6. MTQ-48: Challenge .368 ** .484 ** .471 ** .281 ** .658 ** — 7. MTQ-48: Commitment .354 ** .475 ** .315 ** .476 ** .701 ** .364 ** — 8. MTQ-48: Emotional Control .317 ** .452 ** .361 ** .359 ** .608 ** .278 ** .305 ** — 9. MTQ-48: Life Control .409 ** .355 ** .329 ** .226 ** .597 ** .280 ** .295 ** .279 ** — 10. MTQ-48: Confidence Abilities .362 ** .560 ** .480 ** .404 ** .675 ** .343 ** .357 ** .337 ** .316 ** — 11. MTQ-48: Confidence Interpersonal .335 ** .236 ** .197 * .197 ** .545 ** .283 ** .255 * .219 ** .230 ** .245 ** — Mean (SD) 17.9 (3.9) 30.1 (5.6) 18.1 (4.0) 12.0 (2.9) 143.7 (18.0) 24.1 (4.7) 32.8 (5.7) 21.2 (4.3) 20.9 (4.2) 29.9 (5.4) 17.8 (4.0) Item total correlations .078-.184 .105-.186 .120 − .139 .032 − .123 .157 − .226 .054 − .195 .101 − .169 .088 − .172 .025 − .134 .079 − .190 .072 − .167 Alpha if item deleted .195 − .278 .360 − .391 .246 − .260 .006 − .147 .714 − .718 .228 − .309 .312 − .343 .232 − .286 .166 − .244 .285 − .335 .241 − .310 Coefficient alpha .279 .398 .291 .133 .720 .301 .352 .295 .225 .338 .303 Kolmogorov Smirnov .061 ** .055 ** .071 ** .079 ** .032 * .056 ** .052 ** .068 ** .064 ** .059 ** .058 ** MTQ: Mental Toughness Questionnaire; **, *: Correlations and normality tests are significant at value below .01 and 0.05, respectively. The reliability of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 were considerably low (coefficient alpha = .28 and .40, respectively). According to Kolmogorov Smirnov test, the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 followed the same non-normal distribution of their parent scale, MTQ-48 (Table 4 ). The convergent validity (on the item level) of the three scales and their subscales was low as indicated by low values of item-total correlations. The shortened versions and subscales of the MTQ-10 significantly correlated with each other, indicating adequate concurrent validity. They also had strong significant positive correlations with the MTQ-48 and its six subscales (Table 4 ), suggesting adequate predictive validity of both short forms. Discussion Mental resourcefulness promotes positive wellbeing and the pursuit of personal objectives when individuals encounter critical life situations [8,9,11]. Research has been focused on developing mental toughness to promote peak performance (e.g., in sports) as individuals face adversity with a flexibility that allows them to retain positive energy flow e.g., feeling self-confident, relaxed, and energized [1]. Developing robust and culturally-sensitive tools that adequately measure this construct is essential for advancing research and interventions in various settings [2][7]. This study is the first to evaluate the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 in a non-Western context. The results suggest that both short MTQ forms capture mental toughness as a single global trait among Arabs with model stability across genders as well as athletes and non-athletes. Our MTQ-6 displayed excellent fit and complete invariance at all levels across gender and sport. The fit indices of MTQ-10 models (Table 1 : CFI, SRMR, RMSEA) were comparable to those of the unidimensional MTQ-10 with error correlations as well as the four-factor and bifactor structures of the MTQ-10 among British students [9]. Information is not sufficiently reported for each of the models in that study, including individual parameters of the four-factor MTQ-10 (e.g., items on each construct, factor loadings, and latent factor correlations) [6,9]. However, our model fit was better than that reported for the crude unidimensional model of the MTQ-10 in the UK, Greece, and Italy, but comparable to the fit of unidimensional models with correlated errors and a bifactor model comprising specific method effect [4]. Notably, our fit was produced without a need to correlate error terms of negatively worded items, unlike investigations in the European samples [9]. On the other hand, our two-factor and four-factor MTQ-10 displayed Heywood case (Fig. 1 : c, d)—inter-factor correlations greater than one, indicating that those factors cannot be distinguished empirically [6]. Although all our items loaded significantly on their domain-specific global single factor and two factors (positive and negative), their loadings were considerably lower than the loadings reported in three European samples, which were all above .3 [4]. However, the current MTQ-10 loadings are better than those reported for the scale when it was combined with measures of self-efficacy and Ego-Resiliency, the loadings of 6 items of the MTQ-10 on the single Mental toughness factor were considerably low (range = − .06 to .14) [11]. Such variations in MTQ-10 structures may reflect on possible systematic measurement errors related to minor factors arising from negatively worded items. For instance, poor anxiety management may be indicated by items 2 and 7 (“I tend to worry about things well before they actually happen”’ and “When I make mistakes, I usually let it worry me for days after”) while lack of purpose/direction may be indicated by items 3 and 6 (“I usually find it hard to summon enthusiasm for the tasks I have to do” and “I just don’t know where to begin” is a feeling I usually have when presented with several things to do at once”) [4]. As such, including positive and negative items on the MTQ-10 makes the scale evidently deviate from reflecting on the four/six components that theoretically represent mental toughness. Negatively worded items are frequently included on measures to reduce bias associated with automatic responding as these items are cognitively demanding, which stimulates respondents to reflect upon item content. However, research evidence shows that reverse-coded items produce data contaminated by respondents’ inattention and confusion instead of reducing response bias. On the contrary, instruments with 10 items posed in the same direction are associated with fewer mistakes [21]. As shown in Table 2 , all MTQ-10 models tended toward variance at varying levels across gender, unlike the MTQ-6. It is not clear if the appearance of Heywood case and tendency of the two- and four-factor MTQ-10 toward variance across gender are linked to its negatively phrased items. However, the results generally favor the MTQ-6 as a global index of mental toughness over the MTQ-10 in terms of model fit and invariance, probably due to absence of reverse coded items. Failure to produce the theory-based multidimensional structure of mental toughness by the MTQ-48 [8,10], MTQ-18 [4,6,9], S-MTQ [6], and MTQ-10 [9,11] supports arguments stressing imprecise definition of key expectations that should be fulfilled to achieve mental toughness as a clear construct [2]. In fact, mental toughness has been noted as a one-dimension general trait as opposed to a multifactorial trait that operates through related constructs that promote positive mental health [8,9]. Issues associated with self-report measures are thought to play a key role in the inconsistencies noticed between the conceptual models and the operationalization of mental toughness [2,8,9]. On the other hand, the MTQ-6 seems ideal as a unidimensional measure that comprised only positively worded items with high CVI that represent all six dimensions of mental toughness: it expressed excellent fit, measurement invariance, concurrent validity by strongly correlating with the MTQ-10 as well as predictive/convergent validity by strongly correlating with the MTQ-48. In other words, the MTQ-6 with its robust psychometrics may resolve issues related to the measurement and dimensionality of mental toughness. However, a strong evidence on the rigor of this newly emerging measure may originate from further evaluations in various cultural conditions. The overall reliability of the MTQ-48 falls at the lower bound of acceptable values (.72) while the reliability of its six subscales, two shortened versions, and subscales of the MTQ-10 is inadequate (Table 4 ). Indeed, former studies record sufficiently acceptable reliability of MTQ-6 [6] and MTQ-10 [4,9]. However, in congruence with our findings one study reported low relative omega (0.341) across the Mental Toughness factor depicted by the MTQ-10 in a composite model [11]. Meanwhile, the reliability of the components of the MTQ-48 has been largely reported as fair (around .6: reviewed in [9]). Low reliability indicates high measurement error relative to the true variability in the data [22]. Low values of item loadings, item total correlations, and reliability of all MTQ measures in our study may be attribute to the fact that Tunisia, a former French colony, is a bilingual (Arabic and French) country, with 74 and 68% of the population demonstrating French fluency at the speaking and writing levels, respectively [23]. Therefore, it is possible that the respondents did not understand the items of the MTQ when they were presented in standard Arabic, which may impact the indices of item homogeneity. Thus, replicating the study in other Arab countries may provide useful information on the characteristics of the MTQ and its extra short versions. Strength, implications, and limitations The present study used robust techniques and already available public data to validate extra short versions of the MTQ (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10). Despite the acceptable fit and invariance of both measures, the results show superior psychometric characteristics of the very short MTQ-6 relative to the MTQ-10. Given that the MTQ-6 is a unidimensional measure that taps the six dimensions of mental toughness, the results may implicate our understanding of mental toughness as a flexible general construct. They also narrow the gap regarding whether the distinct dimensions of mental toughness should be interpreted or not. The study has many limitations, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. Several methodological issues are associated with the use of public data in the current analysis entailing risks of information and selection bias: 1) we are not familiar with the method of translation of the MTQ-48 and whether some individuals were inquired about item clarity prior to data collection, 2) information on the target population, inclusion/exclusion criteria of the subjects as well as the method of recruitment (online/offline) is lacking, 3) we could not use other variables for criterion and concurrent validity testing because the dataset comprised only one measure, and 4) we could not estimate test-retest reliability of the measure because of the cross-sectional design. The use of a self-administered survey to collect data entails a risk of social desirability bias. The study also involves ethical issues since participants younger than 18 years old were included, and it is not clear if their guardians consented to their engagement in the study. Data were collected relatively a long time ago (in 2019) from a bilingual Arab country where Arabic fluency in the participants cannot be guaranteed. Future studies that overcome our limitations will be useful. Conclusion The Arabic short versions of the MTQ (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) are valid measures that capture mental toughness as a single global measure. Measurement invariance indicates stability of their unidimensional structure across gender and practicing sport, with superior performance of the MTQ-6. The MTQ-6 strongly correlated with the MTQ-48, MTQ-10, and their subscales indicating adequate convergent, predictive, and concurrent validity. Low factor loadings and reliability of all MTQ measures in this study may be associated with linguistic issues in the scale and sample, necessitating further evaluations among respondents from other Arab countries. References Liew, G.C.; Kuan, G.; Chin, N.S.; Hashim, H.A. Mental toughness in sport. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research 2019 , 49 , 381–394, doi:10.1007/s12662-019-00603-3. Gucciardi, D.F. Mental toughness: progress and prospects. Current Opinion in Psychology 2017 , 16 , 17–23, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.010. Lin, Y.; Mutz, J.; Clough, P.J.; Papageorgiou, K.A. Mental Toughness and Individual Differences in Learning, Educational and Work Performance, Psychological Well-being, and Personality: A Systematic Review. Front Psychol 2017 , 8 , 1345, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01345. Denovan, A.; Dagnall, N.; Artamonova, E.; Papageorgiou, K.A. Evaluation of the 10-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ10): cross-cultural assessment and scrutiny of method effects. Current Psychology 2024 , 43 , 31254–31266, doi:10.1007/s12144-024-06562-9. Clough, P.; Earle, K.; Sewell, D. Mental toughness: The concept and its measurement ; Thomson: 2002; pp. 32–46. Kawabata, M.; Pavey, T.G.; Coulter, T.J. Evolving the validity of a mental toughness measure: Refined versions of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire-48. Stress and Health 2021 , 37 , 378–391, doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3004. Farnsworth, J.L.; Adam, M.; and Myers, N.L. Mental toughness measures: A systematic review of measurement properties for practitioners. J Appl Sport Psychol 2022 , 34 , 479–494, doi:10.1080/10413200.2020.1866710. Perry, J.L.; Strycharczyk, D.; Dagnall, N.; Denovan, A.; Papageorgiou, K.A.; Clough, P.J. Dimensionality of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48). Front Psychol 2021 , 12 , 654836, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.654836. Dagnall, N.; Denovan, A.; Papageorgiou, K.A.; Clough, P.J.; Parker, A.; Drinkwater, K.G. Psychometric Assessment of Shortened Mental Toughness Questionnaires (MTQ): Factor Structure of the MTQ-18 and the MTQ-10. Front Psychol 2019 , 10 , 1933, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01933. Papageorgiou, K.A.; Malanchini, M.; Denovan, A.; Clough, P.J.; Shakeshaft, N.; Schofield, K.; Kovas, Y. Longitudinal associations between narcissism, mental toughness and school achievement. Pers Individ Dif 2018 , 131 , 105–110, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.024. Denovan, A.; Dagnall, N.; Drinkwater, K. Examining what Mental Toughness, Ego Resiliency, Self-efficacy, and Grit measure: An exploratory structural equation modelling bifactor approach. Current Psychology 2023 , 42 , 22148–22163, doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03314-5. Ben Chelbi, I.E.; Alem, J.; Boudhiba, D.; Hamrouni, S.; Khlifa, R.; Chortane, S. Validation of the Mental Toughness Measure of Athletes and Non-athletes with the Structural Equation Model. SHS Web of Conferences 2021 , 119 , 01001, doi:10.1051/shsconf/202111901001. Xxxxxxxx. Validation of the Arabic version of the mental toughness questionnaire. Zenodo: 2021. Ali, A.M.; Alameri, R.A.; Hendawy, A.O.; Al-Amer, R.; Shahrour, G.; Ali, E.M.; Alkhamees, A.A.; Ibrahim, N.; Hassan, B.H. Psychometric evaluation of the depression anxiety stress scale 8-items (DASS-8)/DASS-12/DASS-21 among family caregivers of patients with dementia. Frontiers in Public Health 2022 , 10 , 1012311., doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1012311. Ali, A.M.; Al-Dossary, S.A.; Laranjeira, C.; Atout, M.; Khatatbeh, H.; Selim, A.; Alkhamees, A.A.; Aljaberi, M.A.; Pakai, A.; Al-Dwaikat, T. Cardiometabolic Morbidity (Obesity and Hypertension) in PTSD: A Preliminary Investigation of the Validity of Two Structures of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. J Clin Med 2024 , 13 , 6045, doi:10.3390/jcm13206045. Ali, A.M.; Alameri, R.A.; Brooks, T.; Ali, T.S.; Ibrahim, N.; Khatatbeh, H.; Pakai, A.; Alkhamees, A.A.; Al-Dossary, S.A. Cut-off scores of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8: Implications for improving the management of chronic pain. Journal of Clinical Nursing 2023 , 32 , 8054–8062, doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16878. Ali, A.M.; Al-Dossary, S.A.; Laranjeira, C.; Amer, F.; Hallit, S.; Alkhamees, A.A.; Aljubilah, A.F.; Aljaberi, M.A.; Alzeiby, E.A.; Fadlalmola, H.A., et al. Effects of Hormonal Replacement Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Climacteric Symptoms Following Risk-Reducing Salpingo-Oophorectomy. Healthcare 2024 , 12 , 1612. Ali, A.M.; Al-Dossary, S.; Laranjeira, C.; Selim, A.; Hallit, S.; Alkhamees, A.; Fahad, A.; Aljubilah; Aljaberi, M.; Alzeiby, E., et al. Loneliness Scale (UCLALS3): Evaluation of its psychometric properties and cutoff score among dementia caregivers. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2025 , 16 , 1526569, doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1526569. Ali, A.M.; Al-Dossary, S.A.; Fekih-Romdhane, F.; Alameri, R.A.; Laranjeira, C.; Khatatbeh, H.; Zoromba, M.A.; Alkhamees, A.A.; Aljaberi, M.A.; Pakai, A., et al. Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of the Eight-Item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-8): Specific cultural considerations for the assessment of depression. International Journal for Nursing Studies Advances 2025 , 100310, doi:10.1016/j.ijnsa.2025.100310. Al-Dossary, S.A.; Fekih-Romdhane, F.; Laranjeira, C.; Atout, M.; Aljaberi, M.A.; Suliman, M.M.H.; Gaballa, A.S.M.; Zayed, A.M.A.; Ali, A.M. Happiness Measured by a Single Item: Psychometric Evaluation of the Arabic Version of Fordyce Global Happiness Scale among University Students. Heliyon 2025 , Accepted manuscript . van Sonderen, E.; Sanderman, R.; Coyne, J.C. Ineffectiveness of reverse wording of questionnaire items: let's learn from cows in the rain. PLoS One 2013 , 8 , e68967, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068967. Alvarenga, M.A.S.; Ali, A.M.; Guilhermino, C.S.; de Azevedo, T.G.; Olímpio, K.F.; Kersul, C.; da Cunha, G.L.; Alvares-Teodoro, J.; Ribeiro, P.C.C.; Mansur-Alves, M., et al. A Cross-Sectional Network Analysis Study Applied to the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21): A New Factor Revealed. Mental Illness 2024 , 2024 , 9534110, doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9534110. S’hiri, S. Speak Arabic please!: Tunisian Arabic speakers’ linguistic accommodation to middle Easterners. Language contact and language conflict in Arabic: Variations on a sociolinguistic theme 2002 , 149–174. Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6598461","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":452363649,"identity":"fcad5676-c10a-488c-8acd-080c18716312","order_by":0,"name":"Amira M. Ali","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgYQKcPG3sB4ACKSQJwWHjaeAwzEaoEAHgaJBCK18E873PbhZ44dD5/k4wcHPrYdZuBnzzFg+PALtxaJ24nNM3u3JfOwSacZHJxx5jCDZM8bA8aZfXisAWph4N3GDNSSYHCYp+Iwg8GNHANm3h7cOuSBWhj/bqvnYZM8/uHwH4PDDPYgLX/xaDEAamHm3XaYh02CB6geZIsEUAvDD9xaDEFaZLcdBwZyTsHBnjPpPBJnnhUc7G3ArUXudvpjxrfbquXk249vfPCzzVqOvz1544Mff/B4Hx3wgIgDjG0kaIECUmwZBaNgFIyC4Q4AqA1Tj2ckvJwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amira","middleName":"M.","lastName":"Ali","suffix":""},{"id":452364471,"identity":"b36d12bc-3e53-4718-a9bd-dab30d49532c","order_by":1,"name":"Saeed A. Al-Dossary","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Psychology, College of Education, University of Ha'il, Ha'il 1818, Saudi Arabia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saeed","middleName":"A.","lastName":"Al-Dossary","suffix":""},{"id":452364472,"identity":"d04eb511-eca3-421e-a66d-7e1795223b4e","order_by":2,"name":"Sawsan Abuhammad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sawsan","middleName":"","lastName":"Abuhammad","suffix":""},{"id":452364473,"identity":"a5bce54d-08d1-491c-ad49-ef9f18ef1fb7","order_by":3,"name":"Carlos Laranjeira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of Health Sciences, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carlos","middleName":"","lastName":"Laranjeira","suffix":""},{"id":452364474,"identity":"6ea158f1-7a5c-48a9-9d42-cdee023afc47","order_by":4,"name":"Haitham Khatatbeh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Faculty of Nursing, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haitham","middleName":"","lastName":"Khatatbeh","suffix":""},{"id":452364475,"identity":"433f571a-5f1f-432a-b2c6-63e56f3c591a","order_by":5,"name":"Rasmieh Alamer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Faculty of Nursing, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rasmieh","middleName":"","lastName":"Alamer","suffix":""},{"id":452364476,"identity":"43a2ebb0-6401-4063-a80f-8605bb5fbda7","order_by":6,"name":"Mohamed Ali Zromba","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Nursing, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohamed","middleName":"Ali","lastName":"Zromba","suffix":""},{"id":452364477,"identity":"57f827de-f0ca-41d0-b5d1-d1689943dab3","order_by":7,"name":"Aljawharah Fahad Aljubilah","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 13415, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aljawharah","middleName":"Fahad","lastName":"Aljubilah","suffix":""},{"id":452364478,"identity":"db45da23-7915-4ba7-bc77-7107634d41a9","order_by":8,"name":"Amal Diab Ghanem Atalla","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nursing Administration Department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amal","middleName":"Diab Ghanem","lastName":"Atalla","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-06 03:19:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598461/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598461/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82134447,"identity":"cc83aa4d-0b26-4a94-a7be-ca63c9dfcd96","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-07 06:03:30","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":298413,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eConfirmatory factor analysis models representing the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) among Tunisian youth (N= 853)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6598461/v1/c93168f962d33d1c855f150e.png"},{"id":82137675,"identity":"9a7777b6-2d70-4750-9a10-36811b31fdd6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-07 06:19:31","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1243702,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6598461/v1/ac8f91b7-3518-4077-a7c2-872a72a1e41e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Arabic versions of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaires (MTQ): Psychometric properties among athlete and non-athlete youth\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe earliest description of mental toughness dates back to 1955 as Cattell and colleagues described \u0026ldquo;tough-mindedness\u0026rsquo;\u0026rsquo; as a personality trait that reflects the philosophy of being realistic, self-reliant, and responsible rather than being emotionally sensitive. It is shaped by cultural or environmental factors, and it plays a key role in an individual's success [1]. The concept of mental toughness has quickly gained popularity in sport and exercise psychology over the past two decades [2]. Evidence indicates that genetics account for 50% of the variation in mental toughness, which may have possible implications for developing interventions that grow this characteristic and foster achievement in a variety of settings [3].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDrawing from hardiness theory, Clough developed a multidimensional model that operationalizes mental toughness as a resource that devotes four independent but inter-related components to enable task execution and thereby promote positive mental health as well as protect against, buffer or counteract stress [3,4]. The model was developed to elaborate on how responses (e.g., sport-related) are accommodated, with a focus on confidence in one\u0026rsquo;s abilities, reappraisal of stressful events as opportunities for self-development, and proactive seeking of opportunities for personal growth [3]. These components include: 1) Confidence \u0026ldquo;belief in abilities, self-worth, and capacity to effectively manage interpersonal interactions and social settings \u0026rdquo;, 2) Control \u0026ldquo;propensity to feel empowered and capable of regulating own life and emotions e.g., manage anxieties and stress\u0026rdquo;, 3) Commitment \u0026ldquo;strong commitment to achieving goals, even in the face of difficulties\u0026rdquo;, and 4) Challenge \u0026ldquo;tendency to perceive threats as opportunities for self-development\u0026rdquo; [4,5]. The Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ) comprised 48 that cover Clough\u0026rsquo;s components, and it underwent extensive examinations [6\u0026ndash;8]. The Control and Confidence components have been further divided, with the addition of two more components to the model in some investigations (Confidence in Abilities and Interpersonal Confidence) [4,8].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInconsistent reports on the psychometric characteristics of the MTQ derived researchers to develop shorter versions that inherit the content of the MTQ while enjoying a better psychometric performance [6,9]. Four simplified forms of the MTQ are reported in the literature. Two versions comprise 18 items: 1) the 18-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-18), which comprises item 2 on Control Life; items 21, 27, 31, 37 on Control Emotion; items 3, 13, 16, 36 on Confidence Abilities; items 17, 43, 46 on Confidence Interpersonal; items 11, 35, 42 on Commitment; and items 14, 23, 30 on Challenge [5,9], and 2) the short form Mental Toughness Questionnaire (S-MTQ), which comprised 13 items that were only selected by a panel of experts from all 48 items of the original scale in face and content validity tests in addition to five items with the next highest scores of Content Validity Index (CVI) to have a minimum of three items on each of the six components\u0026mdash;items 7, 29, 47 on Commitment; items 4, 44, 48 on Challenge; items 2, 12, 41 on Control Life; items 27, 31, 45 on Control Emotion; items 8, 18, 24 on Confidence Abilities; and items 20, 43, 46 on Confidence Interpersonal [6]. A systematic review rates Clough\u0026rsquo;s 18-item version (MTQ-18), not the parent scale, as the second of three toughness measures that display psychometric adequacy in terms of structural validity, internal consistency, and hypothesis testing domains [7]. Nonetheless, absence of details on the rationale and processes of item selection is a cause of explicit concerns that surround the MTQ-18 [6,9]. Meanwhile, we could not locate any subsequent study validating S-MTQ, possibly because it included two items with lower CVI than other items because they were the only items to pertain to abilities. Additionally, investigations of the unidimensional, four- factor, six-factor, and bifactor structures of that version both through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) revealed poor fit at varying degrees, with some items failing to load significantly (many items have loading \u0026ldquo;λs\u0026rdquo; ranging from 0.05 to 0.14) on their domain-specific factors or on the general factor [6].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the meantime, the 10-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-10) has been developed recently as a 12-item measure so that it would comprise 3 items with the highest loadings on each of the four components. However, two items (one from Challenge and Commitment) have been removed because they had low loadings (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.3 ) on the general factor [10]. The very next testing of the MTQ-10 included examinations of the unidimensional, four-factor, and bifactor structures relative to various structures of the MTQ-18 among students aged 16 years from English independent schools. The unidimensional factor of the MTQ-10 expressed the best fit, signifying this shortened version as a superior global index than the widely used multi-dimension MTQ-18 [9]. Four models of the MTQ-10 were tested in a subsequent investigation involving online samples of social network users from the UK, Greece, and Italy [4]. The analyses comprised three unidimensional models: 1) crude model, 2) with error correlations of two pairs of items \u0026ldquo;2 with 6 and 3 with 7\u0026rdquo;, 3) with extensive error correlations of the four items with each other. It also evaluated a bifactor model comprising all items on a general factor and the aforementioned items (2, 3, 6, and 7) on another item noted as a method effect factor because the four items are negatively worded/reverse coded. The study revealed partial invariance of the unidimensional MTQ-10 across countries as an effect of specific pairs of negative items rather than a strict method effect [4]. In another study, the MTQ-10 was reported as unidimensional in a composite model comprising other positive structures such as self-efficacy [11].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eUnlike the MTQ-10, which comprises positively and negatively worded items, the MTQ-6 \u0026ldquo;also termed the Very Short MTQ\u0026rdquo; comprises only positively worded items. It has been developed in a large-scale Japanese study, which extensively evaluated the MTQ-48 and the MTQ-18 [6]. Because of failure of various models of both scales as well as limitations in the multidimensional 18-item S-MTQ, which was developed in the same study; the authors decided to develop the MTQ-6 as a global unidimensional measure. They tested four models each comprising six items selected from the S-MTQ\u0026mdash;each item would represent one of the six components of mental toughness. The model expressing excellent fit comprised items 4, 7, 8, 12, 20 and 31, which all had 100% CVI scores of 12 and high loadings with λs ranging from 0.42 to 69 [6]. They attempted to avoid systematic measurement errors that arise from wording effect/shared method (i.e., item polarity and question content/phrasing) that are reported for the MTQ-10 [4] by refraining from the inclusion of reverse-coded items. This final version displayed acceptable internal consistency (0.72) [6]. Until the current moment, the MTQ-6 has not been tested in any context while the MTQ-10 has been examined only in three European studies, with lack of information on its performance in other cultural contexts.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe MTQ has been already evaluated in an Arab context [12] while noting the lack of psychometric evidence for the MTQ-18/S-MTQ, along with the need for a free and easily administrable short measure [6,9,10], the current study fills a gap in the literature by testing the Arabic version of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 shortened versions. It is focused on testing the construct validity of both measures, their concurrent validity in relevance to each other, as well as their predictive validity in relevance to the original whole scale, MTQ-48. In this respect, we hypothesized that the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 would 1) be better expressed by a unidimensional structure, 2) would positively correlate with each other, and 3) would positively correlate with the MTQ-48 and its six subscales.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eSample and procedure\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eData were collected during September 2019 through a cross-sectional survey of a non-random sample of 853 Tunisian youth. The participants, including those below the age of 18, signed an informed consent form before completing the survey. An ethical approval has been already available from the Institutional Review Committee of University of Manouba, Tunisia before data collection [12]. Meanwhile, a public dataset has been obtained and used in the current study [13]. Therefore, another ethical approval was not obtained for the current analyses. Details on how the survey was conducted as well as on what inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered while recruiting the sample are not clearly available [12].\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMeasures\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe test battery used for data collection prompted the respondents to report their age, gender, and whether they participated in any sport before responding to the 48-item MTQ.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMental Toughness Questionnaire-48 is a context-free, self-report tool, which comprises 48 items (22 of them are negatively worded) in six subscales that address individual's level of the four components of mental toughness: commitment, challenge, control (emotion and life) and confidence (abilities and interpersonal). Respondents rate their agreement to each item on a five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) [5]. The scale has been translated from English into Arabic according to standard procedures [12]. The MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 were nested within the MTQ-48. The reliability of the MTQ-48 in this study is acceptable (coefficient alpha\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.72).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStatistical analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCFA with maximum likelihood method of estimation was used to test five competing models in the current study: Model 1 evaluated the unidimensional structure of the six-item version (MTQ-6) [6] while Models 2 to 5 evaluated the unidimensional, two-factor \u0026ldquo;negative worded items 2, 3, 6, 7 on one factor and the rest of items on the other\u0026rdquo;, four-factor, and bifactor (negative worded items on one factor and all items on a general factor) structures of the ten-item version (MTQ-10) [4,9]. Model fit was judged acceptable or good if χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e was non-significant, in addition to Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and Tucker\u0026ndash;Lewis Index (TLI) above the thresholds 0.90 and 0.95, along with root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and standardized root mean residual (SRMR) below the thresholds 0.08 and 0.06, respectively [14,15].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll MTQ structures, except the bifactor model, were examined for measurement invariance across gender and practicing sport (athletes vs non-athletes) through four nested models that test configural, metric/weak, scalar/strong, and strict invariance including: 1) unconstrained model with free estimation of factor loadings across groups, 2) constraining the loadings of items to be equal across groups, 3) constraining both item loadings and intercepts to be equal across groups, which allows comparisons at the level of latent means, and 4) constraining residuals to be equal across groups, respectively [16,17]. Ideally, Δχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e of the nested models should be non-significant. Nonetheless, χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e is sensitive to sample size [18], necessitating the use of other parameters to determine if significant differences develop at the configural, metric, and scalar levels as a result of imposing increasingly restrictive constraints on item loadings, intercepts, and residuals. Accordingly, cutoffs of three absolute fit indices are used: ΔCFI and ΔTLI below 0.020 and ΔRMSEA below 0.015 [19,20].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe reliability of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 was evaluated by coefficient alpha while item-total correlations were used to detect scale convergent validity. The MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 comprise different sets of items\u0026mdash;they have only one item in common (item 31). Therefore, concurrent validity tests were conducted by correlating both shortened versions with each other. The predictive validity of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 was evaluated by correlating both measures and the positive and negative domains of the MTQ-10 with the MTQ-48 and its six components (Challenge, Commitment, Emotional Control, Life Control, Confidence Abilities, Interpersonal Confidence). The normality of the three MTQ measures was examined through Kolmogorov test [19]. Based on normality tests, differences in the MTQ measures between males and females as well as athletes and non-athletes were examined by Mann Whitney U test. The analyses were performed in SPSS (IBM: version 22) and AMOS (IBM: version 24). Results from two tailed tests were considered significant at a probability of \u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe sample comprised 853 respondents who had an average age of 20.4\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.1 years (range\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;14 to 27 years). Around half the respondents were females (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;443, 51.9%) and athletes (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;409, 47.9%).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor all items of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10, univariate skewness and kurtosis tests displayed satisfactory values between \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2.0 and +\u0026thinsp;2.0 (Supplementary Materials: Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e and Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). CFA analysis revealed excellent fit of the unidimensional MTQ-6 and acceptable fit of all structures of the MTQ-10 (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e), except for the bifactor structure, which failed to converge (Supplementary Material: Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Although all items loaded significantly on their domain-specific factors in all models, item loadings were generally low (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGoodness-of-fit of the confirmatory factor analysis models representing the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) among Tunisian youth (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;853)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModels\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCMIN/DF\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCFI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTLI●\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRMSEA 90% CI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSRMR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 1 (MTQ-6 1F)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.736\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000 to 0.028\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0172\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 2 (MTQ-10 1F)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.165\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.931\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.911\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.016\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000 to 0.031\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0274\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 3 (MTQ-10 2F)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e40.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.212\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.946\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.929\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.015\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000 to 0.030\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0274\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 4 (MTQ-10 4F)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.192\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.945\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.915\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.016\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000 to 0.032\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.0256\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"10\"\u003eAbbreviations: χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e, chi-square; DF, degrees of freedom; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker\u0026ndash;Lewis index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; CI, confidence interval; SRMR, standardized root mean residual; ●, TLI values greater than 1 have been rounded.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInvariance of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) across gender among Tunisian youth (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;853)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"15\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c13\" colnum=\"13\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c14\" colnum=\"14\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c15\" colnum=\"15\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ Models\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInvariance levels\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDF\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔDF\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e(Δχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCFI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔCFI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTLI●\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔTLI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSRMR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-6 1F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.93\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.42\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e26.39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.460\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.617\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.619\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.655\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.49\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.92\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.779\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.337\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.536\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0347\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0364\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0377\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0383\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-10 1F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e89.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e94.63\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e95.64\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e102.88\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e80\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.061\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.111\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.112\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.167\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.53\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.786\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.317\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.703\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.845\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.874\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.874\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.896\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.029\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.022\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.801\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.856\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.858\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.896\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.055\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.002\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.038\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.018\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.015\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.015\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.013\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.003\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.002\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0451\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0472\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0474\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0474\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-10 2F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e83.69\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e91.70\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e93.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e100.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e76\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.095\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.106\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.131\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.197\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.95\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.432\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.679\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.730\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.873\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.873\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.885\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.910\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.011\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.025\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.832\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.850\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.869\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.909\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.018\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.019\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.040\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.016\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.016\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.015\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.012\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.003\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0445\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0473\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0473\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0473\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-10 4F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e75.73\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e81.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e87.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e95.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e84\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.059\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.070\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.139\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.188\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.65\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.89\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.464\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.824\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.629\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.857\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.859\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.893\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.909\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.002\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.034\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.016\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.777\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.802\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.869\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.902\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.025\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.067\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.033\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.019\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.018\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.015\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.013\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.003\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.002\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0405\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0414\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0438\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0442\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"15\"\u003eAbbreviations: χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e, chi-square; DF, degree of freedom; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker\u0026ndash;Lewis index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; CI, confidence interval; SRMR, standardized root mean residual; ●, TLI values greater than 1 have been rounded.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e and Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e the unidimensional MTQ-6 as well as the unidimensional, two-factor, and four-factor MTQ-10 displayed invariance at all levels across groups of gender and practicing sport\u0026mdash;ΔCFI and ΔTLI indicate a tendency toward variance at the configural, scalar, and strict levels of the MTQ-10 structure across gender (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e), albeit ΔRMSEA was within acceptable limits. According to Mann Whitney U test, there were no significant differences in all MTQ measures between male and female participants or between athletes and non-athletes (Supplementary Materials: Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e and Table\u0026nbsp;6).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInvariance of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) across athletes and non-athletes among Tunisian youth (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;853)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"15\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c13\" colnum=\"13\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c14\" colnum=\"14\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c15\" colnum=\"15\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ Models\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInvariance levels\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDF\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔDF\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e(Δχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCFI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔCFI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTLI●\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔTLI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eΔRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSRMR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-6 1F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.74\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.80\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.606\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.716\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.762\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.894\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.93\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.98\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.711\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.787\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.921\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0277\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0319\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0318\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0321\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-10 1F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e67.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e71.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e74.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e76.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e80\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.572\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.721\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.663\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.839\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.95\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.60\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.912\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.086\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.989\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0363\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0374\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0397\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0396\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-10 2F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64.82\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e67.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e71.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e74.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e76\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.587\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.753\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.719\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.873\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.41\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.966\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.256\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.987\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0356\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0366\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0390\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0389\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ-10 4F\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Model 4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConfigural\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetric\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eScalar\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e55.58\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e59.55\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e66.43\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e69.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e84\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.566\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.634\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.722\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.879\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.97\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.88\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.71\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.680\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.737\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.987\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c15\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0334\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0345\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0381\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.0381\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"15\"\u003eAbbreviations: χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e, chi-square; DF, degree of freedom; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker\u0026ndash;Lewis index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; CI, confidence interval; SRMR, standardized root mean residual; ●, TLI values greater than 1 have been rounded.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConcurrent validity and predictive validity of the six- and ten-items shortened forms of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) among Tunisian youth (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;853)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"12\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMTQ measures\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1. MTQ-6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2. MTQ-10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.346\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3. MTQ-10: Positive items\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.348\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.853\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4. MTQ-10: Negative items\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.178\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.718\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.274\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5. MTQ-48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.551\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.676\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.559\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.519\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6. MTQ-48: Challenge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.368\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.484\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.471\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.281\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.658\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7. MTQ-48: Commitment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.354\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.475\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.315\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.476\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.701\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.364\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8. MTQ-48: Emotional Control\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.317\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.452\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.361\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.359\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.608\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.278\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.305\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9. MTQ-48: Life Control\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.409\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.355\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.329\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.226\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.597\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.280\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.295\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.279\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10. MTQ-48: Confidence Abilities\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.362\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.560\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.480\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.404\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.675\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.343\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.357\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.337\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.316\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11. MTQ-48: Confidence Interpersonal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.335\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.236\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.197\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.197\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.545\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.283\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.255\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.219\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.230\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.245\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean (SD)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.9 (3.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.1 (5.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.1 (4.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.0 (2.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e143.7 (18.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24.1 (4.7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.8 (5.7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.2 (4.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.9 (4.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29.9 (5.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.8 (4.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eItem total correlations\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.078-.184\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.105-.186\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.120 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.139\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.032 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.123\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.157 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.226\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.054 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.195\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.101 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.169\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.088 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.172\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.025 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.134\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.079 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.190\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.072 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.167\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlpha if item deleted\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.195 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.278\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.360 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.391\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.246 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.260\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.006 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.147\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.714 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.718\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.228 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.309\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.312 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.343\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.232 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.286\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.166 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.244\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.285 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.335\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.241 \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.310\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCoefficient alpha\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.279\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.398\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.291\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.133\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.720\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.301\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.352\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.295\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.225\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.338\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.303\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKolmogorov Smirnov\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.061\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.055\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.071\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.079\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.032\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.056\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.052\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.068\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.064\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.059\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.058\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"12\"\u003eMTQ: Mental Toughness Questionnaire; **, *: Correlations and normality tests are significant at value below .01 and 0.05, respectively.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe reliability of the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 were considerably low (coefficient alpha\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.28 and .40, respectively). According to Kolmogorov Smirnov test, the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 followed the same non-normal distribution of their parent scale, MTQ-48 (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). The convergent validity (on the item level) of the three scales and their subscales was low as indicated by low values of item-total correlations. The shortened versions and subscales of the MTQ-10 significantly correlated with each other, indicating adequate concurrent validity. They also had strong significant positive correlations with the MTQ-48 and its six subscales (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e), suggesting adequate predictive validity of both short forms.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eMental resourcefulness promotes positive wellbeing and the pursuit of personal objectives when individuals encounter critical life situations [8,9,11]. Research has been focused on developing mental toughness to promote peak performance (e.g., in sports) as individuals face adversity with a flexibility that allows them to retain positive energy flow e.g., feeling self-confident, relaxed, and energized [1]. Developing robust and culturally-sensitive tools that adequately measure this construct is essential for advancing research and interventions in various settings [2][7]. This study is the first to evaluate the MTQ-6 and MTQ-10 in a non-Western context. The results suggest that both short MTQ forms capture mental toughness as a single global trait among Arabs with model stability across genders as well as athletes and non-athletes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur MTQ-6 displayed excellent fit and complete invariance at all levels across gender and sport. The fit indices of MTQ-10 models (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e: CFI, SRMR, RMSEA) were comparable to those of the unidimensional MTQ-10 with error correlations as well as the four-factor and bifactor structures of the MTQ-10 among British students [9]. Information is not sufficiently reported for each of the models in that study, including individual parameters of the four-factor MTQ-10 (e.g., items on each construct, factor loadings, and latent factor correlations) [6,9]. However, our model fit was better than that reported for the crude unidimensional model of the MTQ-10 in the UK, Greece, and Italy, but comparable to the fit of unidimensional models with correlated errors and a bifactor model comprising specific method effect [4]. Notably, our fit was produced without a need to correlate error terms of negatively worded items, unlike investigations in the European samples [9]. On the other hand, our two-factor and four-factor MTQ-10 displayed Heywood case (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e: c, d)\u0026mdash;inter-factor correlations greater than one, indicating that those factors cannot be distinguished empirically [6]. Although all our items loaded significantly on their domain-specific global single factor and two factors (positive and negative), their loadings were considerably lower than the loadings reported in three European samples, which were all above .3 [4]. However, the current MTQ-10 loadings are better than those reported for the scale when it was combined with measures of self-efficacy and Ego-Resiliency, the loadings of 6 items of the MTQ-10 on the single Mental toughness factor were considerably low (range\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.06 to .14) [11]. Such variations in MTQ-10 structures may reflect on possible systematic measurement errors related to minor factors arising from negatively worded items. For instance, poor anxiety management may be indicated by items 2 and 7 (\u0026ldquo;I tend to worry about things well before they actually happen\u0026rdquo;\u0026rsquo; and \u0026ldquo;When I make mistakes, I usually let it worry me for days after\u0026rdquo;) while lack of purpose/direction may be indicated by items 3 and 6 (\u0026ldquo;I usually find it hard to summon enthusiasm for the tasks I have to do\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;I just don\u0026rsquo;t know where to begin\u0026rdquo; is a feeling I usually have when presented with several things to do at once\u0026rdquo;) [4]. As such, including positive and negative items on the MTQ-10 makes the scale evidently deviate from reflecting on the four/six components that theoretically represent mental toughness. Negatively worded items are frequently included on measures to reduce bias associated with automatic responding as these items are cognitively demanding, which stimulates respondents to reflect upon item content. However, research evidence shows that reverse-coded items produce data contaminated by respondents\u0026rsquo; inattention and confusion instead of reducing response bias. On the contrary, instruments with 10 items posed in the same direction are associated with fewer mistakes [21]. As shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, all MTQ-10 models tended toward variance at varying levels across gender, unlike the MTQ-6. It is not clear if the appearance of Heywood case and tendency of the two- and four-factor MTQ-10 toward variance across gender are linked to its negatively phrased items. However, the results generally favor the MTQ-6 as a global index of mental toughness over the MTQ-10 in terms of model fit and invariance, probably due to absence of reverse coded items.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFailure to produce the theory-based multidimensional structure of mental toughness by the MTQ-48 [8,10], MTQ-18 [4,6,9], S-MTQ [6], and MTQ-10 [9,11] supports arguments stressing imprecise definition of key expectations that should be fulfilled to achieve mental toughness as a clear construct [2]. In fact, mental toughness has been noted as a one-dimension general trait as opposed to a multifactorial trait that operates through related constructs that promote positive mental health [8,9]. Issues associated with self-report measures are thought to play a key role in the inconsistencies noticed between the conceptual models and the operationalization of mental toughness [2,8,9]. On the other hand, the MTQ-6 seems ideal as a unidimensional measure that comprised only positively worded items with high CVI that represent all six dimensions of mental toughness: it expressed excellent fit, measurement invariance, concurrent validity by strongly correlating with the MTQ-10 as well as predictive/convergent validity by strongly correlating with the MTQ-48. In other words, the MTQ-6 with its robust psychometrics may resolve issues related to the measurement and dimensionality of mental toughness. However, a strong evidence on the rigor of this newly emerging measure may originate from further evaluations in various cultural conditions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe overall reliability of the MTQ-48 falls at the lower bound of acceptable values (.72) while the reliability of its six subscales, two shortened versions, and subscales of the MTQ-10 is inadequate (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). Indeed, former studies record sufficiently acceptable reliability of MTQ-6 [6] and MTQ-10 [4,9]. However, in congruence with our findings one study reported low relative omega (0.341) across the Mental Toughness factor depicted by the MTQ-10 in a composite model [11]. Meanwhile, the reliability of the components of the MTQ-48 has been largely reported as fair (around .6: reviewed in [9]). Low reliability indicates high measurement error relative to the true variability in the data [22]. Low values of item loadings, item total correlations, and reliability of all MTQ measures in our study may be attribute to the fact that Tunisia, a former French colony, is a bilingual (Arabic and French) country, with 74 and 68% of the population demonstrating French fluency at the speaking and writing levels, respectively [23]. Therefore, it is possible that the respondents did not understand the items of the MTQ when they were presented in standard Arabic, which may impact the indices of item homogeneity. Thus, replicating the study in other Arab countries may provide useful information on the characteristics of the MTQ and its extra short versions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrength, implications, and limitations\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe present study used robust techniques and already available public data to validate extra short versions of the MTQ (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10). Despite the acceptable fit and invariance of both measures, the results show superior psychometric characteristics of the very short MTQ-6 relative to the MTQ-10. Given that the MTQ-6 is a unidimensional measure that taps the six dimensions of mental toughness, the results may implicate our understanding of mental toughness as a flexible general construct. They also narrow the gap regarding whether the distinct dimensions of mental toughness should be interpreted or not. The study has many limitations, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. Several methodological issues are associated with the use of public data in the current analysis entailing risks of information and selection bias: 1) we are not familiar with the method of translation of the MTQ-48 and whether some individuals were inquired about item clarity prior to data collection, 2) information on the target population, inclusion/exclusion criteria of the subjects as well as the method of recruitment (online/offline) is lacking, 3) we could not use other variables for criterion and concurrent validity testing because the dataset comprised only one measure, and 4) we could not estimate test-retest reliability of the measure because of the cross-sectional design. The use of a self-administered survey to collect data entails a risk of social desirability bias. The study also involves ethical issues since participants younger than 18 years old were included, and it is not clear if their guardians consented to their engagement in the study. Data were collected relatively a long time ago (in 2019) from a bilingual Arab country where Arabic fluency in the participants cannot be guaranteed. Future studies that overcome our limitations will be useful.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe Arabic short versions of the MTQ (MTQ-6 and MTQ-10) are valid measures that capture mental toughness as a single global measure. Measurement invariance indicates stability of their unidimensional structure across gender and practicing sport, with superior performance of the MTQ-6. The MTQ-6 strongly correlated with the MTQ-48, MTQ-10, and their subscales indicating adequate convergent, predictive, and concurrent validity. Low factor loadings and reliability of all MTQ measures in this study may be associated with linguistic issues in the scale and sample, necessitating further evaluations among respondents from other Arab countries.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLiew, G.C.; Kuan, G.; Chin, N.S.; Hashim, H.A. Mental toughness in sport. \u003cem\u003eGerman Journal of Exercise and Sport Research\u003c/em\u003e \u003cb\u003e2019\u003c/b\u003e, \u003cem\u003e49\u003c/em\u003e, 381\u0026ndash;394, doi:10.1007/s12662-019-00603-3.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGucciardi, D.F. 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Ineffectiveness of reverse wording of questionnaire items: let's learn from cows in the rain. \u003cem\u003ePLoS One\u003c/em\u003e \u003cb\u003e2013\u003c/b\u003e, \u003cem\u003e8\u003c/em\u003e, e68967, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068967.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlvarenga, M.A.S.; Ali, A.M.; Guilhermino, C.S.; de Azevedo, T.G.; Ol\u0026iacute;mpio, K.F.; Kersul, C.; da Cunha, G.L.; Alvares-Teodoro, J.; Ribeiro, P.C.C.; Mansur-Alves, M., et al. A Cross-Sectional Network Analysis Study Applied to the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21): A New Factor Revealed. \u003cem\u003eMental Illness\u003c/em\u003e \u003cb\u003e2024\u003c/b\u003e, \u003cem\u003e2024\u003c/em\u003e, 9534110, doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9534110.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eS\u0026rsquo;hiri, S. Speak Arabic please!: Tunisian Arabic speakers\u0026rsquo; linguistic accommodation to middle Easterners. \u003cem\u003eLanguage contact and language conflict in Arabic: Variations on a sociolinguistic theme\u003c/em\u003e \u003cb\u003e2002\u003c/b\u003e, 149\u0026ndash;174.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Mental Toughness Questionnaire, MTQ; shortened form, MTQ-6, MTQ-10; factor structure, validity, psychometric, invariance; gender, men, women; sport, athletes, non-athletes; Arab, Tunis, youth","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598461/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598461/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eMentally 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.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAim\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis 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\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;853, mean age\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;20.4\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.1 years, 47.9% athletes).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe 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\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;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\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.28, .40, .72 and, respectively).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"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","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-07 06:03:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598461/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7bfe858c-3378-46b7-96fc-ca143b4f01c4","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":48107461,"name":"Psychology"},{"id":48107462,"name":"Psychiatry"},{"id":48107463,"name":"Educational Philosophy and Theory"},{"id":48107464,"name":"Educational Psychology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-07T06:03:26+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-07 06:03:26","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6598461","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6598461","identity":"rs-6598461","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}