The Korean Version of Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Psychometric Validation in the Korean Population

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has psychological effects such as anxiety and depression as well as direct infection in people. The Fear of COVID-19 scale is a scale that can measure anxiety related to COVID-19 in a short time. The purpose of this study was to verify the reliability and validity the Korean version of Fear of COVID-19 scale (KF-COVID-19S). Methods The data of total 186 normal adults and 17 patients were finally used for the statistical analysis. For internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was calculated. For concurrent and discriminant validity, the correlations with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument Brief Form (WHOQOLBREF) were analyzed. For construct validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted. Results Cronbach alpha was 0.88. The two-factor model (factor 1: Physical fear, factor 2: Emotional fear) showed significantly positive correlations and appeared to be good fitness (CFI=0.906, IFI=0.907, NFI=0.902). Conclusion The KF-COVID-19S can be a useful scale that can measure the physical and emotional fears associated with COVID-19 in a short time. Because the psychiatric patients are a more vulnerable group to the fear, it is thought that the KF-COVID-19S will help to determine the patient's level of anxiety and make a therapeutic plan for the underlying mental disorder.

Automated summary

This study verified the reliability and validity of KF-COVID-19S and found that this scale can measure physical and emotional fears associated with COVID-19 in a short time. The results indicated that for psychiatric patients who are more vulnerable to fear, KF-COVID-19S can help determine the patient's anxiety level and make a therapeutic plan for underlying mental disorders.