Factorial Structure of the Covid-19 Pandemic Anxiety Scale (PAS-38) Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented challenge for the whole world. Apart from being a big threat to lives, it has also created a lot of anxiety among the people. This study aimed to identify the factorial structures of the psychological anxiety scale for the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial form of the scale consisted of (55) items. The validity and reliability of the scale were verified. Moreover, the exploratory factor analysis was extracted, which showed the presence of three factors on which the items gathered the somatic, the psychological, and the cognitive. Twelve items were deleted because they were not saturated with any of the three dimensions, then the confirmatory factor analysis was applied using the Amos program which indicated the results of the exploratory factor analysis of the scale, where nearly all the items of the three factors had significant loadings on the factor it belongs. Finally, the study recommended using this scale in future researches. © 2023 NSP Natural Sciences Publishing Cor.