Concern about COVID-19 among the Spanish population: Validation of a scale and associated symptoms

Abstract

Background: The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a considerable increase in the psychopathology of COVID-19 patients and among the general population. This study aims to conduct the psychometric analysis of the scale of concern about COVID-19 in the Spanish population and to estimate the level of concern and dysfunctional anxiety present one year after the lockdown measures in Spain aimed at resisting the spread of the viral disease among the population.

Methods: The factorial structure of the instrument, its reliability for the general population and for COVID patients, and its construct validity have been analyzed, and measurements of dysfunctional concern have been obtained from a sample of 502 adults.

Results: The scale of concern about COVID-19 showed optimal results of reliability and validity for the Spanish population, confirming that it is an ideal instrument for estimating the concern regarding coronavirus contagion.

Limitations: This study used a cross-sectional design and thus, could not compare the changes in the incidence of anxiety symptoms before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, the use of mental health services prior to the COVID-19 restrictions was not assessed in this study, and therefore, no comparisons between the two time points could be made.

Conclusions: After a year of the confinement measures that was instilled to avoid further spread of the disease, the Spanish population presented levels of concern and anxiety that may require clinical attention, with a significant percentage of participants meeting the requirements to be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Concern; Contagion; Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).