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; Attisso Mathieu Désiré Agada; Oli Ahmed; Laith Al-Shawaf; Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah; Rahkman Ardi; Zana Hasan Babakr; Sergiu Bălţătescu; Mario Bonato; Richard G. Cowden; Phatthanakit Chobthamkit; Laura De Pretto; Valdiney V. Gouveia; Carmen Haretche; Dzintra Iliško; John Jamir Benzon Aruta; Fanli Jia; Veljko Jovanovic; Tomislav Jukic; Shanmukh V. Kamble; Narine Khachatryan; Martina Klicperova-Baker; Metodi Koralov; Monika Kovacs; Mabelle Kretchner; Aitor Larzabal Fernandez; Kadi Liik; Najma Iqbal Malik; Karine Malysheva; Chanki Moon; Stephan Muehlbacher; Sofya Nartova-Bochaver; Jorge Torres-Marín; Emrah Özsoy; Joonha Park; Elena Piccinelli; Jano Ramos-Diaz; OgnjenRiđic; Adil Samekin; Andrej Starc; Trà T.T. Kiêu; Robert Tomsik; Charles S. Umeh; EduardoWills-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, Attisso Mathieu Désiré Agada, Oli Ahmed, Laith Al-Shawaf, Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah, Rahkman Ardi, Zana Hasan Babakr, Sergiu Bălţătescu, Mario Bonato, Richard G. Cowden, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Laura De PrettoValdiney V. Gouveia, Carmen Haretche, Dzintra Iliško, John Jamir Benzon Aruta, Fanli Jia, Veljko Jovanovic, Tomislav Jukic, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Narine Khachatryan, Martina Klicperova-Baker, Metodi Koralov, Monika Kovacs, Mabelle Kretchner, Aitor Larzabal Fernandez, Kadi Liik, Najma Iqbal Malik, Karine Malysheva, Chanki Moon, Stephan Muehlbacher, Sofya Nartova-Bochaver, Jorge Torres-Marín, Emrah Özsoy, Joonha Park, Elena Piccinelli, Jano Ramos-Diaz, OgnjenRiđic, Adil Samekin, Andrej Starc, Trà T.T. Kiêu, Robert Tomsik, Charles S. Umeh, EduardoWills-Herrera, Anna Wlodarczyk, Zahir Vally, Somayeh Zand

Clinical Psychology (CMHS)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (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	17
Journal	Psychological Assessment
Volume	34
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001102
Publication status	Published - Jan 1 2022

Keywords

Coronavirus
Cross-cultural studies
Fear of covid
Measurement invariance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Clinical Psychology
Psychiatry and Mental health

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10.1037/pas0001102

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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. D., Ahmed, O., Al-Shawaf, L., Appiah, S. C. Y., Ardi, R., Babakr, Z. H., Bălţătescu, S., Bonato, M., 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

Sawicki, AJ, Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M, Balcerowska, JM, Sawicka, MJ, Piotrowski, J, Sedikides, C, Jonason, PK, Maltby, J, Adamovic, M, Agada, AMD, Ahmed, O, Al-Shawaf, L, Appiah, SCY, Ardi, R, Babakr, ZH, Bălţătescu, S, Bonato, M, Cowden, RG, Chobthamkit, P, De Pretto, L, Gouveia, VV, Haretche, C, Iliško, D, Aruta, JJB, Jia, F, Jovanovic, V, Jukic, T, Kamble, SV, Khachatryan, N, Klicperova-Baker, M, Koralov, M, Kovacs, M, Kretchner, M, Larzabal Fernandez, A, Liik, K, Malik, NI, Malysheva, K, Moon, C, Muehlbacher, S, Nartova-Bochaver, S, Torres-Marín, J, Özsoy, E, Park, J, Piccinelli, E, Ramos-Diaz, J, OgnjenRiđic, Samekin, A, Starc, A, Kiêu, TTT, Tomsik, R, Umeh, CS, EduardoWills-Herrera, 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

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abstract = "Coronavirus disease (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.",

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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, Attisso Mathieu Désiré

AU - Ahmed, Oli

AU - Al-Shawaf, Laith

AU - Appiah, Seth Christopher Yaw

AU - Ardi, Rahkman

AU - Babakr, Zana Hasan

AU - Bălţătescu, Sergiu

AU - Bonato, Mario

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 - Jovanovic, Veljko

AU - Jukic, Tomislav

AU - Kamble, Shanmukh V.

AU - Khachatryan, Narine

AU - Klicperova-Baker, Martina

AU - Koralov, Metodi

AU - Kovacs, Monika

AU - Kretchner, Mabelle

AU - Larzabal Fernandez, Aitor

AU - Liik, Kadi

AU - Malik, Najma Iqbal

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 - OgnjenRiđic,

AU - Samekin, Adil

AU - Starc, Andrej

AU - Kiêu, Trà T.T.

AU - Tomsik, Robert

AU - Umeh, Charles S.

AU - EduardoWills-Herrera,

AU - Wlodarczyk, Anna

AU - Vally, Zahir

AU - Zand, Somayeh

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KW - Cross-cultural studies

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KW - Measurement invariance

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The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Its Structure and Measurement Invariance Across 48 Countries

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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