Measuring COVID-19 as Traumatic Stress: Initial Psychometrics and Validation

The goal was to develop and validate a measure for COVID-19 as traumatic stress. The scale consisted of three dimensions: threat/fear of infection and death, economic hardship, and disturbed routines/isolation. The measure was tested on a snowball sample of 1374 participants from seven countries online. Principal and confirmatory factor analysis conducted on separate subsamples randomly drawn from the sample proved its structural validity. Measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, cumulative traumas, and well-being were used to test its convergent, divergent, and predictive validity. Results validated the reliability, the structural, convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of the scale and its subscales.

Automated summary

The study aimed to develop and validate a measure for assessing COVID-19 as traumatic stress, which was tested for its reliability and validity among participants from different countries, confirming its structural and predictive validity.