The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries

Artur J. Sawicki; Magdalena Żemojtel-Piotrowska; Julia M. Balcerowska; Monika J. Sawicka; Jarosław Piotrowski; Constantine Sedikides; Peter K. Jonason; John Maltby; Mladen Adamovic; Attiso M.G. Agada; Oli Ahmed; Laith Al-Shawaf; Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah; Rahkman Ardi; Zana Hasan Babakr; Mario Bonato; Sergiu Bălțătescu; Richard G. Cowden; Phatthanakit Chobthamkit; Laura De Pretto; Valdiney V.  Gouveia; Carmen Haretche; Dzintra Iliško; John Jamir Benzon Aruta; Fanli Jia; Veljko  Jovanović; Tomislav Jukić; Shanmukh V. Kamble; Narine Khachatryan; Martina Klicperova-Baker; Metodi Koralov; Monika Kovacs; Mabelle Kretchner; Kadi Liik; Aitor Larzabal Fernandez; Najma Iqbal Malik; Karine Malysheva; Chanki Moon; Stephan Muehlbacher; Sofya Nartova-Bochaver; Jorge Torres-Marín; Emrah Özsoy; Joonha Park; Elena Piccinelli; Jano Ramos-Diaz; Ognjen Riđić; Adil Samekin; Andrej Starc; Trà Thị Thanh  Kiều; Robert Tomsik; Charles S. Umeh; Eduardo Wills-Herrera; Anna Wlodarczyk; Zahir Vally; Somayeh Zand

doi:10.1037/pas0001102

The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries

Artur J. Sawicki, Magdalena Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Julia M. Balcerowska, Monika J. Sawicka, Jarosław Piotrowski, Constantine Sedikides, Peter K. Jonason, John Maltby, Mladen Adamovic, Attiso M.G. Agada, Oli Ahmed, Laith Al-Shawaf, Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah, Rahkman Ardi, Zana Hasan Babakr, Mario Bonato, Sergiu Bălțătescu, Richard G. Cowden, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Laura De PrettoValdiney V. Gouveia, Carmen Haretche, Dzintra Iliško, John Jamir Benzon Aruta, Fanli Jia, Veljko Jovanović, Tomislav Jukić, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Narine Khachatryan, Martina Klicperova-Baker, Metodi Koralov, Monika Kovacs, Mabelle Kretchner, Kadi Liik, Aitor Larzabal Fernandez, Najma Iqbal Malik, Karine Malysheva, Chanki Moon, Stephan Muehlbacher, Sofya Nartova-Bochaver, Jorge Torres-Marín, Emrah Özsoy, Joonha Park, Elena Piccinelli, Jano Ramos-Diaz, Ognjen Riđić, Adil Samekin, Andrej Starc, Trà Thị Thanh Kiều, Robert Tomsik, Charles S. Umeh, Eduardo Wills-Herrera, Anna Wlodarczyk, Zahir Vally, Somayeh Zand

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Abstract

COVID-19 has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely-used Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). The findings indicate that the FCV-19S has a somewhat problematic structure, yet the one-factor solution is replicable across cultural contexts and could be used in studies that compare people who vary on gender and educational level. The validity of the scale is supported by a consistent pattern of positive correlations with perceived stress and general anxiety. However, given the unclear structure of the FCV-19S, we recommend using latent factor scores, instead of raw scores, especially in cross-cultural comparisons.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	294–310
Number of pages	41
Journal	Psychological Assessment
Volume	34
Issue number	3
Early online date	20 Jan 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001102
Publication status	Published - Mar 2022

Keywords

fear of COVID; measurement invariance; cross-cultural studies; coronavirus

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Sawicki, A. J., Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M., Balcerowska, J. M., Sawicka, M. J., Piotrowski, J., Sedikides, C., Jonason, P. K., Maltby, J., Adamovic, M., Agada, A. M. G., Ahmed, O., Al-Shawaf, L., Appiah, S. C. Y., Ardi, R., Babakr, Z. H., Bonato, M., Bălțătescu, S., Cowden, R. G., Chobthamkit, P., ... Zand, S. (2022). The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries. Psychological Assessment, 34(3), 294–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001102

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title = "The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries",

abstract = "COVID-19 has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely-used Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). The findings indicate that the FCV-19S has a somewhat problematic structure, yet the one-factor solution is replicable across cultural contexts and could be used in studies that compare people who vary on gender and educational level. The validity of the scale is supported by a consistent pattern of positive correlations with perceived stress and general anxiety. However, given the unclear structure of the FCV-19S, we recommend using latent factor scores, instead of raw scores, especially in cross-cultural comparisons.",

keywords = "fear of COVID; measurement invariance; cross-cultural studies; coronavirus",

author = "Sawicki, {Artur J.} and Magdalena {\.Z}emojtel-Piotrowska and Balcerowska, {Julia M.} and Sawicka, {Monika J.} and Jaros{\l}aw Piotrowski and Constantine Sedikides and Jonason, {Peter K.} and John Maltby and Mladen Adamovic and Agada, {Attiso M.G.} and Oli Ahmed and Laith Al-Shawaf and Appiah, {Seth Christopher Yaw} and Rahkman Ardi and Babakr, {Zana Hasan} and Mario Bonato and Sergiu B{\u a}lț{\u a}tescu and Cowden, {Richard G.} and Phatthanakit Chobthamkit and {De Pretto}, Laura and Gouveia, {Valdiney V.} and Carmen Haretche and Dzintra Ili{\v s}ko and Aruta, {John Jamir Benzon} and Fanli Jia and Veljko Jovanovi{\'c} and Tomislav Juki{\'c} and Kamble, {Shanmukh V.} and Narine Khachatryan and Martina Klicperova-Baker and Metodi Koralov and Monika Kovacs and Mabelle Kretchner and Kadi Liik and {Larzabal Fernandez}, Aitor and {Iqbal Malik}, Najma and Karine Malysheva and Chanki Moon and Stephan Muehlbacher and Sofya Nartova-Bochaver and Jorge Torres-Mar{\'i}n and Emrah {\"O}zsoy and Joonha Park and Elena Piccinelli and Jano Ramos-Diaz and Ognjen Ri{\d}i{\'c} and Adil Samekin and Andrej Starc and Kiều, {Tr{\`a} Thị Thanh} and Robert Tomsik and Umeh, {Charles S.} and Eduardo Wills-Herrera and Anna Wlodarczyk and Zahir Vally and Somayeh Zand",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1037/pas0001102",

language = "English",

volume = "34",

pages = "294–310",

journal = "Psychological Assessment",

issn = "1040-3590",

publisher = "American Psychological Association",

number = "3",

}

Sawicki, AJ, Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M, Balcerowska, JM, Sawicka, MJ, Piotrowski, J, Sedikides, C, Jonason, PK, Maltby, J, Adamovic, M, Agada, AMG, Ahmed, O, Al-Shawaf, L, Appiah, SCY, Ardi, R, Babakr, ZH, Bonato, M, Bălțătescu, S, Cowden, RG, Chobthamkit, P, De Pretto, L, Gouveia, VV, Haretche, C, Iliško, D, Aruta, JJB, Jia, F, Jovanović, V, Jukić, T, Kamble, SV, Khachatryan, N, Klicperova-Baker, M, Koralov, M, Kovacs, M, Kretchner, M, Liik, K, Larzabal Fernandez, A, Iqbal Malik, N, Malysheva, K, Moon, C, Muehlbacher, S, Nartova-Bochaver, S, Torres-Marín, J, Özsoy, E, Park, J, Piccinelli, E, Ramos-Diaz, J, Riđić, O, Samekin, A, Starc, A, Kiều, TTT, Tomsik, R, Umeh, CS, Wills-Herrera, E, Wlodarczyk, A, Vally, Z & Zand, S 2022, 'The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries', Psychological Assessment, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 294–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001102

TY - JOUR

T1 - The fear of COVID-19 scale

T2 - its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries

AU - Sawicki, Artur J.

AU - Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Magdalena

AU - Balcerowska, Julia M.

AU - Sawicka, Monika J.

AU - Piotrowski, Jarosław

AU - Sedikides, Constantine

AU - Jonason, Peter K.

AU - Maltby, John

AU - Adamovic, Mladen

AU - Agada, Attiso M.G.

AU - Ahmed, Oli

AU - Al-Shawaf, Laith

AU - Appiah, Seth Christopher Yaw

AU - Ardi, Rahkman

AU - Babakr, Zana Hasan

AU - Bonato, Mario

AU - Bălțătescu, Sergiu

AU - Cowden, Richard G.

AU - Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit

AU - De Pretto, Laura

AU - Gouveia, Valdiney V.

AU - Haretche, Carmen

AU - Iliško, Dzintra

AU - Aruta, John Jamir Benzon

AU - Jia, Fanli

AU - Jovanović, Veljko

AU - Jukić, Tomislav

AU - Kamble, Shanmukh V.

AU - Khachatryan, Narine

AU - Klicperova-Baker, Martina

AU - Koralov, Metodi

AU - Kovacs, Monika

AU - Kretchner, Mabelle

AU - Liik, Kadi

AU - Larzabal Fernandez, Aitor

AU - Iqbal Malik, Najma

AU - Malysheva, Karine

AU - Moon, Chanki

AU - Muehlbacher, Stephan

AU - Nartova-Bochaver, Sofya

AU - Torres-Marín, Jorge

AU - Özsoy, Emrah

AU - Park, Joonha

AU - Piccinelli, Elena

AU - Ramos-Diaz, Jano

AU - Riđić, Ognjen

AU - Samekin, Adil

AU - Starc, Andrej

AU - Kiều, Trà Thị Thanh

AU - Tomsik, Robert

AU - Umeh, Charles S.

AU - Wills-Herrera, Eduardo

AU - Wlodarczyk, Anna

AU - Vally, Zahir

AU - Zand, Somayeh

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - COVID-19 has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely-used Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). The findings indicate that the FCV-19S has a somewhat problematic structure, yet the one-factor solution is replicable across cultural contexts and could be used in studies that compare people who vary on gender and educational level. The validity of the scale is supported by a consistent pattern of positive correlations with perceived stress and general anxiety. However, given the unclear structure of the FCV-19S, we recommend using latent factor scores, instead of raw scores, especially in cross-cultural comparisons.

AB - COVID-19 has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely-used Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). The findings indicate that the FCV-19S has a somewhat problematic structure, yet the one-factor solution is replicable across cultural contexts and could be used in studies that compare people who vary on gender and educational level. The validity of the scale is supported by a consistent pattern of positive correlations with perceived stress and general anxiety. However, given the unclear structure of the FCV-19S, we recommend using latent factor scores, instead of raw scores, especially in cross-cultural comparisons.

KW - fear of COVID; measurement invariance; cross-cultural studies; coronavirus

U2 - 10.1037/pas0001102

DO - 10.1037/pas0001102

M3 - Article

SN - 1040-3590

VL - 34

SP - 294

EP - 310

JO - Psychological Assessment

JF - Psychological Assessment

IS - 3

ER -

The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries

Abstract

Keywords

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