Psychometric Evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale Among Chinese Population

Fear is a negative emotional reaction to or persistent worry over an imminent public health event like COVID-19. The COVID-Fear Scale was developed in many countries, but not in China. The current study aims to examine the psychometric properties of Chinese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Translation into Chinese and back-translation into English were conducted firstly. Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted in Sample 1, followed by validity tests in Sample 2. Likely, test-retest reliability was conducted in sample 3. A bifactor structure of Chinese version of FCV-19S with a general fear factor and two orthogonal group factors with fear thoughts and physical response was confirmed. Besides, it has good internal consistency reliability (alpha = .92), composite reliability (CR = .92), and validity correlation validity. The results of the present study confirmed that the Chinese version of FCV-19S has good psychometric properties in the Chinese communities.

Automated summary

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, confirming a bifactor structure with good internal consistency reliability, composite reliability, and validity. The results indicated that the scale has good psychometric properties in Chinese communities.