Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of Hungarian version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has had a global major healthcare, social and economic impact. In present study we aim to adapt the Fear of COVID-19 Scale to Hungarian. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forward-backward translation method was used to translate the English version of the scale to Hungarian. Participants were a convenience sample of 2175 university students and employees. The study was conducted between January 18th and February 12th 2021. The test battery included Hungarian versions of Fear of COVID-19 scale, short Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-H) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS: The scale showed one-factor structure, the loadings on the factor were significant and strong (from .47 to .84). Internal consistency was very good (α = .84). Construct validity for the Fear of COVID-19 Scale was supported by significant and positive correlations with STAI (r = 0.402; p < 0.001) and BDI-H (r = 0.270; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The Hungarian version of Fear of COVID-19 Scale is a reliable and valid tool in assessing fear of coronavirus.

Prospective prediction of PTSD and depressive symptoms during social unrest and COVID-19 using a brief online tool.

Large-scale protracted population stressors, such as social unrest and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are associated with increased symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Cost-effective mental health screening is prerequisite for timely intervention. We developed an online tool to identify prospective predictors of PTSD and depressive symptoms in the context of co-occurring social unrest and COVID-19 in Hong Kong. 150 participants completed baseline and follow-up assessments, with a median duration of 29 days. Three logistic regression models were constructed to assess its discriminative power in predicting PTSD and depressive symptoms at one month. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis was performed for each model to determine their optimal decision thresholds. Sensitivity and specificity of the models were 87.1% and 53.8% for probable PTSD, 77.5% and 63.3% for high-risk depressive symptoms, and 44.7% and 96.4% for no significant depressive symptoms. The models performed well in discriminating outcomes (AUCs range: 0.769-0.811). Probable PTSD was predicted by social unrest-related traumatic events, high rumination, and low resilience. Rumination and resilience also predicted high-risk and no significant depressive symptoms, with COVID-19-related events also predicting no significant depression risk. Accessible screening of probable mental health outcomes with good predictive capability may be important for early intervention opportunities.

Development and validation of the Lo's Healthy and Happy Lifestyle Scale (LHHLS): The resilience in general population facing COVID-19 in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: This article explores the effectiveness of development of the Lo's Healthy and Happy Lifestyle Scale (LHHLS), which is an evaluative tool that monitors the resilience of the Taiwan population in times of such COVID-19 epidemic. Also, to verify factors of resilience, namely the reliability and validity of self-efficacy and positive thinking, and establishment of a prospective norm analysis. METHOD: The study mainly applied Explorative Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to develop LHHLS and establish the reliability and validity of the tool's structure, verify norm analysis and the reliability of data from each question using Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: According to statistics, LHHLS has a good factorial effectiveness and relatively high reliability, with factor reliability analyses where Cronbach's alpha lies between 0.83 to 0.94. The 14 questions in the LHHLS has a total variance of 67.04%. The tool includes two sub-assessments that are theoretically and statistically appropriate: mental health/self-efficacy and positive thinking. CONCLUSION: The tool LHHLS can be applied to populations affected by COVID-19. With participants' self-awareness of mental health state and state of happy living, this tool is valid and reliable in assessing and evaluating the resilience of such participants against times of COVID-19. This study can become future use for epidemic prevention communities in monitoring residents' healthy living and changes in their resilience. Also, can become a reference standard for interventions to reduce the impacts populations' happy and healthy living, in times of biological disasters.

The fear of COVID-19 scale: Validation in spanish university students.

The emergence of the COVID-19 and its consequences has led to fears, worries, and anxiety among individuals worldwide. Recently, Ahorsu et al. (2020) developed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). The present study aimed to translate and validate the FCV-19S in Spanish university students. The sample comprised 606 Spanish´undergraduates with a mean age of 21.59 years old. We also used a six items from the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) by van Knippenberg, Duivenvoorden, Bonke & Passchiner (1990). The Fear of COVID-19 scale used for the present survey evidenced a good alpha measure of internal consistency or reliability analysis with ordinal alpha and ordinal omega. Seven items with acceptable corrected item-total correlation were retained and further confirmed by significant and strong factor loadings. Concurrent validity was supported by the six items of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The Fear of COVID-19 Scale, a seven-item scale, has a stable unidimensional structure with robust psychometric properties. It is reliable and valid in assessing fear of COVID-19 among the Spanish university students.

Developing a Measure of the Impact of COVID-19 Social Distancing on Household Conflict and Cohesion.

This report introduces the COVID-19 Family Environment Scale (CHES), which aims to measure the impact of social distancing due to COVID-19 on household conflict and cohesion. Existing measures do not capture household experiences relevant to the pandemic, in which families are largely confined to their homes while sharing a life-threatening situation. Using best practice guidelines, we developed a pool of items and revised them with review by a panel of experts, and cognitive interviewing with community respondents. We administered the CHES by online survey to 3,965 adults. The CHES consists of 15 items for each of two subscales, household conflict (α = .847) and household cohesion (α = .887). Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors, corresponding to the intended conflict and cohesion items, which accounted for 29% of variance. Confirmatory factor analysis partially supported the 2-factor model (RMSEA = .057; CFI = .729, TLI = .708, and SRMR = .098). The CHES also contains 25 optional items to describe respondent and household characteristics, and household-level COVID-19 exposure. The CHES, publicly available at https://elcentro.sonhs.miami.edu/research/measures-library/covid-19/index.html, provides a tool for measuring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on important determinants of resilience in the face of major stressful events. Further work is needed to address the factor structure and establish validity of the CHES.

Este informe presenta la Escala del Entorno Familiar de la COVID-19 (COVID-19 Family Environment Scale, CHES), cuyo fin es medir el efecto del distanciamiento social debido a la COVID-19 en el conflicto familiar y la cohesión familiar. Las herramientas de medición actuales no captan las experiencias familiares relevantes de la pandemia, en la cual las familias están en su gran mayoría confinadas en sus hogares mientras comparten una situación que pone en riesgo la vida. Utilizando pautas de mejores prácticas, desarrollamos un conjunto de ítems y los revisamos con un grupo de expertos, e hicimos entrevistas cognitivas a personas de la comunidad. Administramos la CHES mediante una encuesta en línea a 3965 adultos. La CHES consta de 15 ítems para cada una de dos subescalas, la de conflicto familiar (α = .847), y la de cohesión familiar (α = .887). El análisis factorial exploratorio dio dos factores correspondientes a los ítems planeados de conflicto y cohesión, que representaron el 22 % de la varianza. El análisis factorial confirmatorio respaldó parcialmente el modelo de dos factores (RMSEA = .057; CFI = .729, TLI = .708 y SRMR = .098). La CHES también contiene 25 ítems opcionales para describir las características de los encuestados y la familia, y el nivel de exposición de la familia a la COVID-19. La CHES, disponible públicamente en https://elcentro.sonhs.miami.edu/research/measures-library/covid-19/index.html ofrece una herramienta para medir el efecto de la pandemia de la COVID-19 en determinantes importantes de resiliencia ante situaciones de gran estrés. Se necesitan más trabajos para abordar la estructura factorial y establecer la validez de la CHES.

Clinically significant fear and anxiety of COVID-19: A psychometric examination of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale.

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) using an online survey of 398 adult Amazon MTurk workers in the U.S. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the CAS measures a reliable (α = 0.92), unidimensional construct with a structure that was shown to be invariant across gender, race, and age. Construct validity was demonstrated with correlations between CAS scores and demographics, coronavirus diagnosis, history of anxiety, coronavirus fear, functional impairment, alcohol/drug coping, religious coping, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, as well as social attitudes (e.g., satisfaction with President Trump). The CAS also demonstrated solid discrimination ability for functional impairment (AUC =0.88), while the original cut score of ≥9 (76% sensitivity and 90% specificity) showed the strongest diagnostic effectiveness among scores. Overall, these findings are largely consistent with the results of the first CAS investigation and support the validity of this mental health screener for COVID-19 related research and practice.