Validation of Beck Cognitive Insight Scale - Arabic Version in a Tunisian Sample

Objectives: Cognitive insight reflects cognitive processes concerning patients' capacity of distancing from and reevaluation of anomalous beliefs and misinterpretations. The purpose of the present study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Arabic version of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale.

Methods: The English language version of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale was translated into Literary Arabic. A total of 150 patients with and without psychosis completed the Arabic version of Beck Cognitive Insight Scale and additional evaluations to assess psychopathology. Psychometric properties including content validity, construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis, discriminant validity and reliability were assessed for this translated measure.

Results: Our results revealed that the Arabic version of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale showed adequate psychometric properties that permitone to assess impairments of cognitive insight in patients with psychosis and in patients without psychotic features. The fit indices of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the validity of the two-factor structure corresponding to self-reflectiveness and self-certainty subscales. Psychotic patients were significantly more confident in their beliefs compared with non-psychotic patients. Scores of self-certainty were significantly higher in psychotic patients. Cronbach's alpha reliability indicator of the Arabic version was equal to 0.60. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.60 and 0.53 for the self-reflectiveness sub-scale and the self-certainty sub-scale, respectively.

Conclusions: The Arabic version of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale is valid and reliable for the assessment of cognitive insight. It may improve the detection and the prevention of impairments in cognitive insight.