Development and validation of a Saudi Behavioral Rating Scale for assessing executive function applied to adults versus high school students.

This study developed two self-report executive function scales suitable for use with university students and adolescents in Saudi Arabia, respectively, through the collection of empirical data and the testing of the scale's psychometric properties. The pilot phase aimed to identify Saudi Executive Function Index for College Students (SEFI-C) items suitable for use in Saudi Arabia through item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, and to conduct reliability and validity tests. The final administration phase involved confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the factor structure and construct validity. The validation phase involved concurrently administering the scale with other instruments with established reliability and validity to verify its validity. The pilot phase involved a group study of 250 volunteer university students (120 female and 130 male). Comprehensive psychometric validation procedures were conducted. The results showed that both the SEFI-C and Saudi Executive Function Index for High School Students (SEFI-H) exhibited good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and criterion-related validity. Model reliability and internal consistency were excellent for the general factor (ω = 0.87; a = 0.91) and specific factors (ω = 0.85-0.90; a ≥ 0.84-0.93). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good model fit and construct validity for the three-factor structure, indicating that the SEFI-C and SEFI-H possess good psychometric properties. With further replication, the EFS has excellent potential for wide adoption across research and clinical contexts.