Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a sample of university students
Keywords:
FCV-19S, university students, COVID-19, validation, SARS-CoV-2, Peru.Abstract
Introduction: The fear of COVID-19 has spread worldwide, affecting all communities, including university students. It is required to have tools to measure this fear.Objective: To validate the translate Spanish version of the FCV-19S questionnaire (Fear of COVID-19 Scale).
Methodology: A cross-sectional online-questionnaire-based study was conducted among Peruvian university students during the first outbreak by COVID-19. Undergraduate students with a native Spanish language, with internet access, were voluntarily included, and subjects with language comprehension problems were excluded. The translation of the questionnaire was carried out under a standardized protocol and an observational evaluation was applied to assess the validity and reliability of FCV-S19 with α-Cronbach, Pearson's correlation, and factor analysis.
Results: Two-hundred eight university students with an average age of 25.9 ± 5.9 (IC95 %: 25.1 a 26.7) years were surveyed, where more than half were women (58.7 %) and approximately 57 % lived with their parents. The Cronbach alpha was ≥ 0.8 among the domains, giving a good internal consistency of the questionnaire (Cronbach alpha = 0.832). The validity of the instrument between the 7 items and the 5 categories showed an adequate correlation (p< 0.5), the Bartlett (p= 0,0001) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (0,818) tests defined by factor analysis a dimension that explained 52.3 % of the total variance.
Conclusions: The translation into Spanish of the FCV-19S questionnaire has optimal validity and reliability, being able to measure fear of COVID-19 in a sample of university students from Peru.
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References
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26. Kaya S, Uzdil Z, Cakiroğlu FP. Evaluation of the effects of fear and anxiety on nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Public Health Nutr. 2021 [acceso: 20/02/2022]; 24(2):282-289. Disponible en: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/evaluation-of-the-effects-of-fear-and-anxiety-on-nutrition-during-the-covid19-pandemic-in-turkey/96B344CE0AB3304855E8B993CCB7C2FB
27. Cassiani-Miranda CA, Tirado-Otálvaro AF, Campo-Arias A. Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in the general Colombian population. Death Stud. 2022;46(3):595-602. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2021.1874572
28. Observatorio de Psicología Social Aplicada. Crisis Coronavirus Estudio Nº 8. 70 días de cuarentena: salud mental, economía y gestión política. Buenos Aires: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires; 2020. [acceso: 20/02/2022]. Disponible en: https://www.psi.uba.ar/opsa/informes/Crisis%20Coronavirus%208.%20Salud-%20mental%20economia%20y%20gestion%20politica.pdf
29. Sklar DP. COVID-19: Lessons from the Disaster That Can Improve Health Professions Education. Acad Med. 2020; 95(11):1631-33. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003547
30. Patel RN. Educational evaluation: Theory and practice. Bengaluru: Himalaya Publishing House; 2010.
31. Moya-Salazar J, Jaime-Quispe A, Milachay YS, Cañari B, Lozano-Zanely G, Chicoma-Flores K, Moya-Salazar MM, Contreras-Pulache H. What is the perception of medical students about eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic? A multicenter study in Peru. Electron J Gen Med. 2022;19(6): em402. DOI: 10.29333/ejgm/12289
2. Feng L, Li Z, Zhao S, Nair H, Lai S, Xu W, et al. Viral etiologies of hospitalized acute lower respiratory infections patients in China, 2009-2013. PloS One 2014; 9(6): e99419. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099419
3. Ju X, Fang Q, Zhang J, Xu A, Liang L, Ke C. Viral etiology of incluenza like illnesses in Hiuzhou, China from 2011-2013. Archv virol. 2014; 159(8):2003-10. DOI: 10.1007/s00705-014-2035-1
4. Grasselli G, Zangrillo A, Zanella A, Antonelli M, Cabrini L, Castelli A, Cereda D, et al. Baseline Characteristics and Outcomes of 1591 Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2 Admitted to ICUs of the Lombardy Region, Italy. JAMA 2020; 323(16):1574-81. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.5394
5. World Health Organization. Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 26 October 2021. Edition 63 [acceso: 20/02/2022]. Disponible en: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---26-october-2021
6. Anderson RM, Heesterbeek H, Klinkenberg D, Hollingsworth TD. How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? Lancet 2020; 395(10228): 931-4. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30567-5
7. World Health Organization. Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak. WHO; 2020 [acceso: 20/02/2022]. Disponible en: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf
8. Lin CY. Social reaction toward the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Social Health and Behavior. 2020; 3(1):1-2. DOI: 10.4103/SHB.SHB_11_20
9. Lai J, Ma S, Wang Y, Cai Z, Hu J, Wei N, et al. Factors Associated With Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2020; 3(3): e203976. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976
10. Melo-Oliveira ME, Sá-Caputo D, Bachur JA, Paineiras-Domingos LL, Sonza A, Lacerda AC, et al. Reported quality of life in countries with cases of COVID19: a systematic review. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2021; 15(2):213-220. DOI: 10.1080/17476348.2021.1826315
11. Moya-Salazar J, Villareal C, Cañari B, Contreras-Pulache H. COVID-19 may lower Quality of Life when infections and deaths increase: A longitudinal study in the Peruvian jungle. Front Psych. 2022; in press.
12. Stankovska G, Memedi I, Dimitrovski D. Coronavirus COVID-19 disease, mental health and psychosocial support. Society Reg. 2020; 4(2): 33-48. DOI: doi.org/10.14746/sr.2020.4.2.03
13. Ahorsu DK, Lin C-Y, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Development and Initial Validation. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2020; 20(3): 1537-1545. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8
14. Luo F, Ghanei Gheshlagh R, Dalvand S, Saedmoucheshi S, Li Q. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Fear of COVID-19. Front Psychol. 2021; 12: 661078. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661078
15. Green ZA, Noor U, Ahmed F, Himayat L. Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a Sample of Pakistan's University Students and Future Directions. Psychol Rep. 2021; 332941211016754. DOI: 10.1177/00332941211016754
16. Perz CA, Lang BA, Harrington R. Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a US College Sample. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2022; 20(1): 273-83. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-020-00356-3
17. Wild D, Grove A, Martin M, Eremenco S, McElroy S, Verjee-Lorenz D, et al. ISPOR Task Force for Translation and Cultural Adaptation. Principles of Good Practice for the Translation and Cultural Adaptation Process for Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Measures: Report of the ISPOR Task Force for Translation and Cultural Adaptation. Value Health. 2005; 8(2): 94-104. DOI: 10.1111/j.1524-4733.2005.04054.x
18. Rayhan RU, Zheng Y, Uddin E, Timbol C, Adewuyi O, Baraniuk JN. Administer and collect medical questionnaires with Google documents: a simple, safe, and free system. Appl Med Inform. 2013 [acceso: 20/02/2022]; 33(3):12-21. Disponible en: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24415903/
19. Huarcaya-Victoria J, Villarreal-Zegarra D, Podestà A, Luna-Cuadros MA. Psychometric Properties of a Spanish Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in General Population of Lima, Peru. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2022;20(1):249-62. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-020-00354
20. Moya-Salazar J, Cañari B, Contreras-Pulache H. How much fear of COVID-19 is there in Latin America? A prospective exploratory study in six countries. Electron J Gen Med. 2022; 19(1):em339. DOI: doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/11401
21. Moya-Salazar J, Saciga-Saavedra W, Cañari B, Chicoma-Flores K, Contreras-Pulache H. Can living with COVID-19 patients in a hospital increase anxiety level in healthcare workers? A survey-based single-center study in Peru. Electron J Gen Med. 2022;19(5): em389. DOI: 10.29333/ejgm/12140
22. Monterrosa-Castro A, Dávila-Ruiz R, Mejía-Mantilla A, Contreras-Saldarriaga J, Mercado-Lara M, Flores-Monterrosa C. Estrés laboral, ansiedad y miedo al COVID-19 en médicos generales colombianos. MedUNAB. 2020 [acceso: 20/02/2022]; 23(2): 195-213. Disponible en: https://search.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/en/covidwho-807848
23. Cavalheiro FRS, Sticca MG. Adaptation and Validation of the Brazilian Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2022;20(2):921-9. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-020-00415-9
24. Caycho-Rodríguez T, Vilca LW, Cervigni M, Gallegos M, Martino P, Portillo N, et al. Fear of COVID-19 scale: Validity, reliability and factorial invariance in Argentina's general population. Death Stud. 2020; 1-10. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2020.1836071
25. Rodríguez-Hidalgo AJ, Pantaleón Y, Dios I, Falla D. Fear of COVID-19, Stress, and Anxiety in University Undergraduate Students: A Predictive Model for Depression. Front Psychol. 2020; 11:591797. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591797
26. Kaya S, Uzdil Z, Cakiroğlu FP. Evaluation of the effects of fear and anxiety on nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Public Health Nutr. 2021 [acceso: 20/02/2022]; 24(2):282-289. Disponible en: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/evaluation-of-the-effects-of-fear-and-anxiety-on-nutrition-during-the-covid19-pandemic-in-turkey/96B344CE0AB3304855E8B993CCB7C2FB
27. Cassiani-Miranda CA, Tirado-Otálvaro AF, Campo-Arias A. Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in the general Colombian population. Death Stud. 2022;46(3):595-602. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2021.1874572
28. Observatorio de Psicología Social Aplicada. Crisis Coronavirus Estudio Nº 8. 70 días de cuarentena: salud mental, economía y gestión política. Buenos Aires: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires; 2020. [acceso: 20/02/2022]. Disponible en: https://www.psi.uba.ar/opsa/informes/Crisis%20Coronavirus%208.%20Salud-%20mental%20economia%20y%20gestion%20politica.pdf
29. Sklar DP. COVID-19: Lessons from the Disaster That Can Improve Health Professions Education. Acad Med. 2020; 95(11):1631-33. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003547
30. Patel RN. Educational evaluation: Theory and practice. Bengaluru: Himalaya Publishing House; 2010.
31. Moya-Salazar J, Jaime-Quispe A, Milachay YS, Cañari B, Lozano-Zanely G, Chicoma-Flores K, Moya-Salazar MM, Contreras-Pulache H. What is the perception of medical students about eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic? A multicenter study in Peru. Electron J Gen Med. 2022;19(6): em402. DOI: 10.29333/ejgm/12289
Published
2022-08-27
How to Cite
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Moya-Salazar J, Sevillano-Jiménez J, Cañari B, Moya-Salazar MM, Contreras-Pulache H. Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a sample of university students. Rev Cubana Med Milit [Internet]. 2022 Aug. 27 [cited 2025 Apr. 3];51(3):e02201968. Available from: https://revmedmilitar.sld.cu/index.php/mil/article/view/1968
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