Psychological foundations of digital empowerment: development and preliminary validation of self-determination theory–based scale for female university students

Abstract

Inroduction 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. Methods 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. Results 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). Discussion 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.