Chung-Ying Lin1, Wen-Li Hou2,3, Mohammed A Mamun4, José Aparecido da Silva5, Yunier Broche-Pérez6, Irfan Ullah7, Akihiro Masuyama8, Koubun Wakashima9, Mélody Mailliez10, Arnaud Carre11, Yu-Pin Chen12,13, Kun-Chia Chang14,15, Yi-Jie Kuo12,13, Paolo Soraci16, Damian Scarf17, Anders Broström18,19, Mark D Griffiths20, Amir H Pakpour18,21. 1. Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. 2. College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 3. Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 4. CHINTA Research Bangladesh (Centre for Health Innovation, Networking, Training, Action and Research - Bangladesh), Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 5. Unit of Psychobiology, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 6. Psychology Department, Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas Km 5 ½, Santa Clara, Cuba. 7. Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, Peshawar, Pakistan. 8. Faculty of Psychology, Iryo Sosei University, Iwaki City, Japan. 9. Graduate School of Education, Tohoku University, Sendai-city, Japan. 10. ISAE-SUPAERO (Institut Supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace), University of Toulouse, Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées), Toulouse, France. 11. LIP/PC2S, University of Savoie Mont Blanc, University of Grenoble Alpes, Chambéry, France. 12. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. 13. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. 14. Jianan Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tainan, Taiwan. 15. Department of Natural Biotechnology, NanHua University, Chiayi, Taiwan. 16. Group Cognitive Behavioral Psychology Association, Rome, Italy. 17. Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 18. Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden. 19. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Hospital Linköping, Linköping, Sweden. 20. International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK. 21. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
Abstract
AIM: The threats of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have caused fears worldwide. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was recently developed to assess the fear of COVID-19. Although many studies found that the FCV-19S is psychometrically sound, it is unclear whether the FCV-19S is invariant across countries. The present study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the FCV-19S across eleven countries. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Using data collected from prior research on Bangladesh (N = 8,550), United Kingdom (N = 344), Brazil (N = 1,843), Taiwan (N = 539), Italy (N = 249), New Zealand (N = 317), Iran (N = 717), Cuba (N = 772), Pakistan (N = 937), Japan (N = 1,079) and France (N = 316), comprising a total 15,663 participants, the present study used the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch differential item functioning (DIF) to examine the measurement invariance of the FCV-19S across country, gender and age (children aged below 18 years, young to middle-aged adults aged between 18 and 60 years, and older people aged above 60 years). RESULTS: The unidimensional structure of the FCV-19S was confirmed. Multigroup CFA showed that FCV-19S was partially invariant across country and fully invariant across gender and age. DIF findings were consistent with the findings from multigroup CFA. Many DIF items were displayed for country, few DIF items were displayed for age, and no DIF items were displayed for gender. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study, the FCV-19S is a good psychometric instrument to assess fear of COVID-19 during the pandemic period. Moreover, the use of FCV-19S is supported in at least ten countries with satisfactory psychometric properties.
AIM: The threats of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have caused fears worldwide. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was recently developed to assess the fear of COVID-19. Although many studies found that the FCV-19S is psychometrically sound, it is unclear whether the FCV-19S is invariant across countries. The present study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the FCV-19S across eleven countries. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Using data collected from prior research on Bangladesh (N = 8,550), United Kingdom (N = 344), Brazil (N = 1,843), Taiwan (N = 539), Italy (N = 249), New Zealand (N = 317), Iran (N = 717), Cuba (N = 772), Pakistan (N = 937), Japan (N = 1,079) and France (N = 316), comprising a total 15,663 participants, the present study used the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch differential item functioning (DIF) to examine the measurement invariance of the FCV-19S across country, gender and age (children aged below 18 years, young to middle-aged adults aged between 18 and 60 years, and older people aged above 60 years). RESULTS: The unidimensional structure of the FCV-19S was confirmed. Multigroup CFA showed that FCV-19S was partially invariant across country and fully invariant across gender and age. DIF findings were consistent with the findings from multigroup CFA. Many DIF items were displayed for country, few DIF items were displayed for age, and no DIF items were displayed for gender. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study, the FCV-19S is a good psychometric instrument to assess fear of COVID-19 during the pandemic period. Moreover, the use of FCV-19S is supported in at least ten countries with satisfactory psychometric properties.
Authors: Veljko Kolak; Maja Pavlovic; Ema Aleksic; Vladimir Biocanin; Milica Gajic; Ana Nikitovic; Marija Lalovic; Irena Melih; Dragana Pesic Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-06-23 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Maryam Tofangchiha; Chung-Ying Lin; Janneke F M Scheerman; Anders Broström; Hanna Ahonen; Mark D Griffiths; Santosh Kumar Tadakamadla; Amir H Pakpour Journal: BDJ Open Date: 2022-06-27
Authors: Oscar Lecuona; Chung-Ying Lin; Dmitri Rozgonjuk; Tone M Norekvål; Marjolein M Iversen; Mohammed A Mamun; Mark D Griffiths; Ting-I Lin; Amir H Pakpour Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-06-02 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Zainab Alimoradi; Anders Broström; Hector W H Tsang; Mark D Griffiths; Shahab Haghayegh; Maurice M Ohayon; Chung-Ying Lin; Amir H Pakpour Journal: EClinicalMedicine Date: 2021-06-10
Authors: Chung-Ying Lin; Zainab Alimoradi; Narges Ehsani; Maurice M Ohayon; Shun-Hua Chen; Mark D Griffiths; Amir H Pakpour Journal: Healthcare (Basel) Date: 2022-01-04