Cross-language validation of COVID-19 Compliance Scale in 28 languages

Epidemiol Infect. 2023 Jul 10:151:e119. doi: 10.1017/S0950268823001103.

Abstract

Although compliance scales have been used to assess compliance with health guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID-19, no scale known to us has shown content validity regarding global guidelines and reliability across an international sample. We assessed the validity and reliability of a Compliance Scale developed by a group of over 150 international researchers. Exploratory factor analysis determined reliable items on the English version. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the reliability of the six-item scale and convergent validity was found. After invariance testing and alignment, we employed a novel R code to run a Monte Carlo simulation for alignment validation. This scale can be employed to measure compliance across multiple languages, and our alignment validation method can be conducted with future cross-language surveys.

Keywords: COVID-19; compliance; cross-language survey; public health; survey validation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Humans
  • Language
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires