Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a US College Sample

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted college students' coursework, stress levels, and perceived health. Various estimates indicate that high proportions of college students have experienced increased amounts of stress (Dziech,Inside Higher Education,2020; Hartocollis,New York Times,2020), yet other sources indicate that many college students respond to these changes with resilience (Kelley,Cornell Chronicle,2020). A method for assessing student anxiety regarding the pandemic is thus needed. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) (Ahorsu et al.,International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction,2020) is a seven-item scale which has been validated and shown to possess good psychometric qualities in studies of participants from multiple countries. The current study used a cross-sectional convenience sample of US college student participants (n = 237) and found that the FCV-19S has high reliability and validity as demonstrated by its internal consistency and strong one-factor solution. Scores on the FCV-19S were positively correlated with anxiety for students who were married or of Asian descent. Additionally, the FCV-19S was only moderately correlated with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale (GAD-7), suggesting that the FCV-19S may bring added utility to research and clinical practice with populations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected college students' coursework, stress levels, and perceived health. A method for assessing student anxiety regarding the pandemic is needed. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) has been validated and shown to possess good psychometric qualities. In this study with US college students, the FCV-19S demonstrated high reliability and validity, and its scores were positively correlated with anxiety for married or Asian students.