Psychometric properties of obsession with COVID-19 scale in the general population of Kermanshah, Iran

ABSTRACT

Aims Obsession with COVID-19 scale examines the persistent and disturbing thinking about COVID-19. The current study aimed to determine the psychometric properties Instrument & Methods This research is a descriptive-cross sectional study to determine the psychometric properties of OCS. The study population included all people of Kermanshah in 2020. Four hundred individuals were included in the study using convenience sampling. The measurements utilized include the online forms of the demographic information questionnaire, Obsession with COVID-19 Scale, The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Data analysis was done using SPSS 21 and Amos 20. The descriptive statistics indicators, confirmatory factor analysis, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and Cronbach’s alpha were applied. Findings The study population consisted of 94 male and 306 female individuals (23.50% and 76.50%, respectively). The mean±SD of the participants’ age was 29.48±9.32. Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was measured to be 0.79. There was a significant convergent validity between Obsession with COVID-19 Scale with The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (p<0.001). Also, the single-factor model of the scale had strong fitness indexes. Conclusion The obsession with the COVID-19 scale has high and acceptable validity and reliability in the general population of Kermanshah. Copyright © 2021, the Authors.