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oai:figshare.com:article/33962140 2026-09-22T05:38:35Z category_173 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Supplementary file 1_Psychological foundations of digital empowerment: development and preliminary validation of self-determination theory–based scale for female university students.pdf Afnan Fahad Bin Dayel (25087933) Applied Psychology digital empowerment female university students psychometric properties scale development self-determination theory Inroduction<p>As higher education undergoes rapid digital transformation, digital empowerment has emerged as a pivotal psychological resource for student functioning. Existing instruments conceptualize empowerment narrowly as technical proficiency, and no psychometrically validated Arabic-language measure exists. Addressing both gaps, this study developed and preliminarily validated a Digital Empowerment Scale (DES) grounded in Self-Determination Theory.</p>Methods<p>A sample of 248 female university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (M age = 21.0, SD = 2.85) completed a 19-item pool tapping psychological competence and autonomy, technical-cognitive competence, relatedness, and digital, ethical, and legal awareness. Given marked non-normality, confirmatory factor analyses employed WLSMV estimation.</p>Results<p>A four-factor solution showed poor discriminant validity between the psychological and technical factors (HTMT = 0.92); a respecified three-factor model, after removal of one weak item, fit the data very well (CFI = 0.961, TLI = 0.954, RMSEA = 0.037, SRMR = 0.079). The final 18-item scale demonstrated adequate composite reliability (ω = 0.66–0.76) and clear discriminant validity (HTMT ≤ 0.43).</p>Discussion<p>Pending criterion-related evidence and cross-validation in independent samples, the DES offers a parsimonious, theoretically anchored preliminary instrument for assessing digital empowerment among female university students.</p> 2026-09-22T05:38:35Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1939454.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Supplementary_file_1_Psychological_foundations_of_digital_empowerment_development_and_preliminary_validation_of_self-determination_theory_based_scale_for_female_university_students_pdf/33962140 CC BY 4.0