The Arabic Classroom Participation Questionnaire: Validation with d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing University Students

The Classroom Participation Questionnaire (CPQ) was developed with school-aged d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students, but no Arabic version exists for university populations. This study adapted the CPQ into Arabic, extended it to d/Dhh university students, and examined its internal structure, reliability, and the associations of communication understanding with communication-related positive and negative affect. In total, 135 d/Dhh students at Saudi public universities completed the 26-item Arabic CPQ. Internal consistency was excellent (α = 0.91–0.96). Positive- and negative-affect items formed clear, separate factors, whereas instructor- and peer-understanding items were highly interrelated (r = 0.83) and were combined into one composite; a four-factor confirmatory model showed acceptable fit (CFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.089). Communication understanding was strongly associated with positive affect (r = 0.69) and weakly with negative affect (r = 0.24), and the two affective dimensions were largely independent (r = 0.16). Female students reported more positive and less negative affect; hearing-device use added no independent association. The Arabic CPQ functioned reliably in this population. Because the understanding and positive-affect subscales share communication-specific content, their strong association partly reflects item overlap; the independence of the two affective dimensions suggests that accessibility and psychosocial support address distinct needs.