Development and psychometric validation of an indigenous Urdu Histrionic personality disorder scale for adults

Objective: To develop and validate an indigenous Urdu scale for measuring Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) in adults, based on the diagnostic criteria outlined in DSM-5, and to assess its psychometric properties. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study, conducted from February 15 to June 20, 2019, was divided into two phases: scale development and verification of psychometric properties. In the development phase, a 59-item pool based on DSM diagnostic criteria was content-validated by experts and administered to 104 participants. Inter-item correlation analysis reduced the items to 41 with correlation ≥0.4. For final administration, responses from 234 adults (Males=124, Females=110) from clinical and non-clinical populations in Gujrat, Pakistan, were collected using the refined scale. Further analysis reduced the scale to 22 items, resulting in a concise measure. Results: The initial 59-item Histrionic Personality Disorder Scale (HPDS) was refined to 22 items through Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). EFA identified eight factors explaining 66.12% variance, while CFA confirmed seven factors with acceptable model fit indices (CFI=.941, GFI=.886, RMSEA=.056). The scale demonstrated excellent reliability (Cronbach’s α=.924) and subscale reliability ranging from .726 to .845. Convergent validity, assessed against the Brief Histrionic Personality Scale, showed a strong correlation (r=.741, p<.01). These findings establish HPDS as a psychometrically sound tool for measuring histrionic personality traits in clinical and non-clinical populations. Conclusion: This study developed a 22-item Urdu HPDS for adults in Pakistan, demonstrating strong reliability, validity, and cultural relevance. It is a valuable tool for research, diagnosis, and clinical application across diverse settings.