Psychometric Testing of Three COVID-19-Related Scales Among People with Mental Illness

Kun-Chia Chang; Wen-Li Hou; Amir H Pakpour; Chung-Ying Lin; Mark D Griffiths

doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00361-6

Psychometric Testing of Three COVID-19-Related Scales Among People with Mental Illness

Int J Ment Health Addict. 2022;20(1):324-336. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00361-6. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Authors

Kun-Chia Chang^#^{1

2}, Wen-Li Hou^#^{3

4}, Amir H Pakpour^{5

6}, Chung-Ying Lin^{7

8}, Mark D Griffiths⁹

Affiliations

¹ Jianan Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tainan, Taiwan.
² Department of Natural Biotechnology, NanHua University, Chiayi, 622 Taiwan.
³ Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Adjunct Research Fellow, Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁵ Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, 3419759811 Iran.
⁶ Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
⁷ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
⁸ Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁹ International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Fear of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) may result in psychological health problems among different populations. Moreover, believing COVID-19 information and preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors are relevant constructs associated with fear of COVID-19. Therefore, the present study validated three instruments assessing fear, beliefs, and preventive behaviors related to COVID-19 among individuals with mental illness. Moreover, relationships between the three constructs were examined. Individuals with mental illness (N = 400; 178 females; mean age = 46.91 years) completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), Believing COVID-19 Information Scale (BCIS), Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale (PCIBS), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). The FCV-19S, BCIS, and PCIBS demonstrated a single-factor structure with satisfactory fit indices. Moreover, believing COVID-19 information positively and significantly associated with fear of COVID-19, and fear of COVID-19 negatively and significantly associated with preventive behaviors and positively and significantly associated with psychological distress. The FCV-19S, BCIS, and PCIBS may assist healthcare providers in assessing COVID-19-related information among individuals with mental illness. Consequently, relevant programs may be designed to help individuals with mental illness going through the period of crisis.

Keywords: Believing COVID-19 Information Scale; COVID-19 preventive behavior; Fear of COVID-19 Scale; Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale; Psychological distress.