Title
Assessment of Fear of COVID-19 in Older Adults: Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale
Date Issued
01 April 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Springer
Abstract
There is no information in Peru on the prevalence of mental health problems associated with COVID-19 in older adults. In this sense, the aim of the study was to gather evidence on the factor structure, criterion-related validity, and reliability of the Spanish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in this population. The participants were 400 older adults (mean age = 68.04, SD = 6.41), who were administered the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Revised Mental Health Inventory-5, Patient Health Questionnaire-2 items, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 2 items. Structural equation models were estimated, specifically confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), bifactor CFA, and structural models with latent variables (SEM). Internal consistency was estimated with composite reliability indexes (CRI) and omega coefficients. A bifactor model with both a general factor underlying all items plus a specific factor underlying items 1, 2, 4, and 5 representing the emotional response to COVID better represents the factor structure of the scale. This structure had adequate fit and good reliability, and additionally fear of COVID had a large effect on mental health. In general, women had more fear than men, having more information on COVID was associated to more fear, while having family or friends affected by COVID did not related to fear of the virus. The Spanish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale presents evidence of validity and reliability to assess fear of COVID-19 in the Peruvian older adult population.
Start page
1231
End page
1245
Volume
20
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Psiquiatría
Estadísticas, Probabilidad
Epidemiología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85099043175
Source
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
ISSN of the container
15571874
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus