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A multi‐centric study on validation of the Fear Scale for COVID‐19 in five Arabic speaking countries
Background The Eight‐item Fear Scale is a unidimensional scale evaluating the perceived feelings of fear associated with the thought of the coronavirus. Aim The Arabic version of this scale did not exist; hence, this study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fear Scale...
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Published in: | Brain and Behavior 2021-11, Vol.11 (11), p.e2375-n/a |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Request full text |
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Summary: | Background
The Eight‐item Fear Scale is a unidimensional scale evaluating the perceived feelings of fear associated with the thought of the coronavirus.
Aim
The Arabic version of this scale did not exist; hence, this study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fear Scale in participants aged 18 years and above in five Arabic countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan by using a cross‐sectional survey design.
Method
The English version of the COVID‐19 Fear Scale was translated into Arabic following the guidelines and disseminated through social media. Factorial and convergent validity and internal reliability were evaluated. Results: The total number of participants was 2783; the majority was young (41.9%) and female (60.5%). Fear scores were moderate in four countries and severe in Egypt. The scale showed good structural validity, with the items explaining up to 70% of the variance. The scale items correlated significantly with the total scores, and the Cronbach alpha was above 0.9.
Conclusion
The study concluded that the Arabic Fear Scale is a psychometrically robust scale that can be used to evaluate the perceived feelings of fear with the thought of the coronavirus or pandemic in general.
(1) This study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fear Scale in above 18 years Arabic speakers’ residents in five Arabic countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. (2) It used a cross‐sectional survey design, the English version of COVID‐19 Fear Scale was translated in Arabic following the guidelines and disseminated through social media. Structural and Criterion validity, internal consistency, and reliability were evaluated. (3) The study concluded that evaluating fear in the Arabic countries was found to be essential considering the high scores. |
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ISSN: | 2162-3279 2162-3279 |
DOI: | 10.1002/brb3.2375 |