Psychometric Evaluation of the Arabic Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale

Mohsen Alyami; Marcus Henning; Christian U Krägeloh; Hussain Alyami

doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00316-x

Psychometric Evaluation of the Arabic Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale

Int J Ment Health Addict. 2021;19(6):2219-2232. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00316-x. Epub 2020 May 16.

Authors

Mohsen Alyami¹, Marcus Henning², Christian U Krägeloh³, Hussain Alyami⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Auckland, Building 507, Level 3, 22-30 Park Avenue, Grafton, Auckland, 1023 New Zealand.
² Centre of Medical and Health Sciences Education, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
³ Department of Psychology, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁴ College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Fear is a central emotional response to imminent threats such as the coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19). The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) assesses the severity of fear towards COVID-19. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the FCV-19S. Using a forward-backward translation, the FCV-19S was translated into Arabic. An online survey using the Arabic versions of FCV-19S and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was administered. Reliability and concurrent and confirmatory validity were examined. The dataset consisted of 693 Saudi participants. The internal consistency of the Arabic FCV-19S was satisfactory (α = .88), with sound concurrent validity indicated by significant and positive correlations with HADS (r = .66). The unidimensional structure of the FCV-19S was confirmed. The Arabic version of the FCV-19S is psychometrically robust and can be used in research assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 among a Saudi adult population.

Keywords: Arabic FCV-19S; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Fear of COVID-19 Scale; Saudi Arabia.