{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T07:03:06Z","timestamp":1779951786630,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779926400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Worry is a central cognitive feature of anxiety and emotional distress, and its accurate assessment is vital for understanding psychological well-being in high-stress societies such as Afghanistan.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The present study aimed to translate and validate the Dari\/Farsi version of the of Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) in a sample of Afghan students. It employed a descriptive and validation-based approach.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The target population of the present research included 254 undergraduate students studying at Herat University, Afghanistan, during the 2024\u20132025 academic year. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling and responded to an online questionnaire distributed via Qualtrics. To assess temporal stability, a subsample of 40 participants completed the (PSWQ) again after a two-week interval. Data were collected using the PSWQ and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional structure of the PSWQ, indicating an acceptable model fit (\n                      <jats:italic>\n                        \u03c7\n                        <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      <\/jats:italic>\n                      \/df\u202f=\u202f2.58, CFI\u202f=\u202f0.94, RMSEA\u202f=\u202f0.07). The PSWQ scores demonstrated moderate positive correlations with depression, anxiety, and stress as measured by the DASS-21 (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.53, 55, and 0.59, respectively;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). In addition, the scale showed satisfactory test\u2013retest reliability over 2\u202fweeks, (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.70,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05), and high internal consistency (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b1<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.92).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Overall, the findings confirm that the Dari\/Farsi version of the PSWQ possesses robust psychometric characteristics. Therefore, it can be confidently utilized as a reliable instrument for research applications as well as for clinical evaluation. Its use is recommended for psychologists and mental health professionals in both diagnostic settings and empirical studies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1800125","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T06:20:23Z","timestamp":1779949223000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in a sample of Afghan students"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mohammad Sajjad","family":"Afsharzada","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University","place":["\u00d6stersund, Sweden"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sajjad","family":"Saadat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences","place":["Rasht, Iran"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Basir Ahmad","family":"Azizi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education, Herat University","place":["Herat, Afghanistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wahidh","family":"Talbian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University","place":["\u00d6stersund, Sweden"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100528","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejtd.2025.100528","article-title":"Dari version of international trauma questionnaire (ITQ): in a sample of afghan students","volume":"9","author":"Afsharzada","year":"2025","journal-title":"Eur. 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Psychother."},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1631\/jzus.B0820189","article-title":"Penn State worry questionnaire: structure and psychometric properties of the Chinese version","volume":"10","author":"Zhong","year":"2009","journal-title":"J Zhejiang Univ Sci B"},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"841","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2008.06.003","article-title":"Psychometric properties of internet administered versions of Penn state worry questionnaire (PSWQ) and depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS)","volume":"25","author":"Zlomke","year":"2009","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1800125\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T06:20:26Z","timestamp":1779949226000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1800125\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"references-count":37,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1800125"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1800125","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"article-number":"1800125"}}