A diagnostic tool for family and marriage counseling with Muslim couples

The study addresses the lack of culturally valid and reliable assessment tools for family and marriage counseling among Muslim couples, noting that many existing measures were developed in Western contexts and can misrepresent Arab and Muslim family dynamics. Cultural dimensions such as Islamic sharia considerations, gendered roles, and norms around decision-making and family involvement necessitate a tailored instrument. The research objective was to develop and validate the WIFAQ Questionnaire for Muslim Couples and Families (WQMCF) to accurately assess marital and family functioning in Arab/Muslim contexts and to support therapists in planning and evaluating interventions with a forward-looking, strengths-based focus.

Prior work emphasizes the need for high-quality self-report measures in mental health and highlights threats to validity, including cultural bias and response styles. Many relationship measures (e.g., FACES) were created and normed in Western populations and may lack validity for Arabs/Muslims, leading to misinterpretations (e.g., restrictive communication or role differentiation being pathologized). Simple translations without cultural adaptation often yield inaccurate results and questionable measurement invariance. Arab and Muslim family structures involve distinct role expectations, religious norms, and extended family dynamics, suggesting Western constructs of equality in decision-making or household labor may not map directly. There is a shortage of Arabic-validated instruments and items reflecting Islamic legal and relational concepts (e.g., rights and duties, religious motivations). Culturally adapted tools, developed and validated locally, tend to perform better and are needed to guide screening and interventions in primary care and community settings across the Arab region.

Design and instrument development: Constructs and content domains were derived from literature, followed by item generation in Arabic. Three family therapy experts (WIFAQ and Qatar University) reviewed an initial item set for content validity; items were refined and some removed. A think-aloud process with ten demographically similar couples informed further revisions. The resulting WQMCF was designed to assess a future-oriented, strengths-based view of marital and family dynamics (structural attribute satisfaction, emotional/sexual harmony, spouse’s family communication, religious matters). The operational WQMCF used in validation comprised 32 items rated on a 6-point Likert scale (1 = always disagree to 6 = always agree). Sample and recruitment: From 1325 heterosexual, monogamous Arab adults initially approached, cases with >5% missing data (n = 113) were excluded, yielding N = 1212 individuals (389 married couples), ages 22–55 (overall mean 38.15, SD 9.47; husbands mean 38.25, SD 9.23; wives mean 38.06, SD 9.70). Participants were recruited via invitations to WIFAQ clients and relatives. Inclusion criteria: married ≥2 years, ages 22–55, at least primary education, Arabic reading/speaking. Exclusion: history of substance addictions, mental illness, intellectual disability, epilepsy, or significant physical illness. The sample was randomly split for validation: EFA subsample n = 606 (303 couples; ~49% husbands), CFA subsample n = 606 (303 couples; ~51% husbands); subsamples were balanced demographically. Instruments: (1) Sociodemographic Variables Questionnaire (Q-SV-10) assessing gender, age, education, origin city, religion, marital status, years married, number of children, occupation, income. (2) WQMCF (32 items; 6-point Likert). (3) Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS-32; Arabic version; 6-point Likert), Cronbach’s alpha = 0.910 in this study. Procedure and ethics: Participants provided informed consent and completed measures individually in one session (~25–35 minutes) at home or clinic, privately and without their spouse present; they could withdraw or pause at any time. Ethical approval from the Family Consulting Center Research Ethics; procedures aligned with the Declaration of Helsinki. Statistical analysis: SPSS v26 and SmartPLS v3.3. EFA (maximum likelihood with varimax rotation) on n = 606; item reduction based on loadings, theoretical coherence, and scree/eigenvalue criteria. CFA (maximum likelihood) on independent n = 606; items with standardized loadings <0.70 were removed (ultimately item 22 removed in final CFA model). Missing data (<5%) handled via expectation–maximization; Little’s MCAR test significant (p < 0.02) indicating no systematic missingness pattern. Normality checks (skew < 3, kurtosis < 10) were acceptable. Reliability assessed via Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability (CR); convergent validity via average variance extracted (AVE); discriminant validity via Fornell–Larcker criterion; concurrent validity via correlations with DAS subscales. Measurement invariance and inter-factor correlations examined across husbands and wives in the full cohort (N = 1212).

• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): A five-factor solution emerged after iterative item reduction to 22 items, accounting for 69.48% of variance (eigenvalues: 7.87, 2.54, 2.15, 1.57, 1.15; variances: 35.77%, 11.55%, 9.79%, 7.13%, 5.24%). Factors: (1) Structural attribute satisfaction (5 items, loadings 0.75–0.84), (2) Marital harmony (5 items, 0.70–0.82), (3) Emotional and sexual harmony (5 items, 0.63–0.78), (4) Spouse’s family communication (4 items, 0.40–0.78), (5) Religious matters (3 items, 0.54–0.75). Cronbach’s alpha (EFA stage) indicated strong internal consistency across factors (reported ranges ~0.73–0.93).
• Reliability and measurement model (PLS): Cronbach’s alpha across constructs exceeded 0.70 (0.778–0.867); CR = 0.827–0.907; AVE = 0.552–0.774, supporting internal consistency and convergent validity.
• Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): Items with standardized loadings <0.70 were removed; specifically, item 22 was dropped in the final model (21 items). Final standardized loading ranges by factor: F1 0.86–0.91; F2 0.82–0.89; F3 0.77–0.86; F4 0.72–0.85; F5 0.85–0.88. Construct reliability: F1 0.95, F2 0.93, F3 0.90, F4 0.84, F5 0.90. AVE: F1 0.77, F2 0.73, F3 0.64, F4 0.64, F5 0.74.
• Discriminant validity and independence of factors: Inter-factor correlations ranged 0.26–0.53; squared multiple correlations 0.07–0.28; AVE for each construct exceeded squared inter-construct correlations, indicating discriminant validity and no multicollinearity.
• Concurrent validity: Strong positive correlations between WQMCF factors and DAS subscales (range approximately 0.558–0.863), supporting concurrent validity.
• Missing data and assumptions: Data approximately normal; EM used for minimal missingness; Little’s MCAR indicated no linkage between missingness and observed variables.

The findings confirm that a culturally adapted instrument, the WQMCF, captures key dimensions of marital and family functioning among Muslim couples: structural attributes, marital harmony, emotional/sexual harmony, extended-family communication, and religious matters. The EFA and CFA across independent subsamples yield a robust, theoretically coherent five-factor structure with strong reliability (alpha and CR), convergent validity (AVE), discriminant validity (Fornell–Larcker), and concurrent validity via strong associations with DAS subscales. Low inter-factor correlations and low squared multiple correlations indicate constructs are related yet distinct, aligning with culturally specific domains such as religious duties and extended family influences that may be underrepresented in Western measures. The tool addresses the research need for valid assessment to inform counseling and therapy in Arab/Muslim contexts and has potential utility as a screener in healthcare and family service settings.

This study provides the first validation of the WQMCF for assessing marital satisfaction and harmony, emotional and sexual harmony, spouse’s family communication, and religious matters among Muslim couples, taking Arab cultural values into account. Cross-validation using EFA and CFA in two independent samples from Qatar and Egypt demonstrates strong psychometric properties. The WQMCF fills a critical gap in culturally appropriate assessment for family and marriage counseling and can be confidently applied in Arab and Muslim contexts, with potential use in research, clinical screening, and program evaluation.

• Data collection occurred across varied locations, potentially introducing contextual bias.
• Reliance solely on self-report survey methods; future work should incorporate interviews or mixed methods for richer data.
• Cross-sectional design precludes causal inference; longitudinal studies are recommended.
• Age range limited to 22–55; broader age groups should be included in future research.
• Validation was conducted in Qatar and Egypt; additional testing across diverse Arab countries and cultures is needed to broaden generalizability and assess cross-cultural applicability and measurement invariance.