Adaptation and evaluation of Turkish version of the fear of COVID-19 Scale

We investigated the psychometric properties of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in Turkish among a diverse group with a focus on the prevalence of coronavirus related fear across gender, age intervals, SES, chronic illness situation, and educational level. Based on a confirmatory factor analysis, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale had appropriate psychometric properties for utilization, including excellent goodness-of-fit indices, a Cronbach's alpha value of .86, and discriminant validity, as shown by a significant negative correlation with resilience. Furthermore, group comparison analyses revealed that women reported significantly higher fear of coronavirus. Additionally, individuals from middle SES reported significantly higher fear of coronavirus while the fear of coronavirus did not differ based on participants' educational level, socioeconomic status, and age level. Implications for mental health providers are discussed.

Automated summary

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in Turkish and examined the prevalence of coronavirus-related fear across different groups. The results showed that the scale had good psychometric properties, and women and individuals with middle socioeconomic status reported higher levels of fear.