Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale for Chinese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Wanqiu Yang, Peng Li, Yubo Huang, Xiao Yang, Wei Mu, Wangwei Jing, Xiaohong Ma and Xiangyang Zhang
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Wanqiu Yang: The Mental Health Center, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Peng Li: Faculty of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
Yubo Huang: The Mental Health Center, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Xiao Yang: Kunming Psychiatric Hospital, Kunming 650225, China
Wei Mu: The Mental Health Center, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Wangwei Jing: Kunming Psychiatric Hospital, Kunming 650225, China
Xiaohong Ma: West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610044, China
Xiangyang Zhang: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 14, 1-13

Abstract: Background: fear of COVID-19 is widespread among the population, especially among college students because of their increased exposure to the media information overload of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) is a relatively short instrument used to evaluate fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the validity and reliability of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale have not been fully investigated in Chinese university student groups. Objectives: this study assessed the cross-cultural adaptability and reliability of the FCV-19S for Chinese university students. Methods: a Chinese version of Fear of COVID-19 Scale (C-FCV-19S) was generated using the translation-backward translation method. Psychometric properties of the C-FCV-19S, including internal consistency, split-half reliability, construct reliability, convergent validity, and diagnostic accuracy, were evaluated. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) scales were also used to evaluate participants for depression and anxiety. Results: the C-FCV-19S has acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.872) and satisfactory split-half reliability (correlation coefficient: 0.799). Using the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), we examined the construct reliability (KMO = 0.920). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed that the bifactor model of scale (including general factor, factor1: the awareness of COVID-19 and physiological arousal, factor 2: fear-related thinking) had a good fit index (χ2/df =6.18, RMSEA= 0.067, SRMR = 0.028, GFI = 0.986, TLI = 0.970 and CFI= 0.988). Using depression-positive and anxiety-positive scores as reference criteria, we found that the areas under the curve were 0.70 and 0.68, respectively, and that the optimal cutoff scores of the C-FCV-19S was 17.5 (sensitivity: 66.3% and 58.7%, respectively). Conclusions: the validity and reliability of C-FCV-19S are satisfactory, and the optimal cutoff point was 17.5. The C-FCV-19S can be applied adopted in Chinese university students.

Keywords: COVID-19; the Fear of COVID-19 Scale; reliability; validity; Chinese university students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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