Design and Psychometric Analysis of the COVID-19 Prevention, Recognition and Home-Management Self-Efficacy Scale

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-06, Vol.17 (13), p.4653
• Main Authors: Hernández-Padilla, José Manuel, Granero-Molina, José, Ruiz-Fernández, María Dolores, Dobarrio-Sanz, Iria, López-Rodríguez, María Mar, Fernández-Medina, Isabel María, Correa-Casado, Matías, Fernández-Sola, Cayetano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronaviruses; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; COVID-19; Criteria; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease transmission; Female; Humans; Legibility; Male; Methods; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Prevention; Psychological aspects; Psychometrics; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Recognition, Psychology; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; SARS-CoV-2; Self Efficacy; Self-Management; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires; Validation studies; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17134653

In order to control the spread of COVID-19, people must adopt preventive behaviours that can affect their day-to-day life. People's self-efficacy to adopt preventive behaviours to avoid COVID-19 contagion and spread should be studied. The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically test the COVID-19 prevention, detection, and home-management self-efficacy scale (COVID-19-SES). We conducted an observational cross-sectional study. Six-hundred and seventy-eight people participated in the study. Data were collected between March and May 2020. The COVID-19-SES' validity (content, criterion, and construct), reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability), and legibility were studied. The COVID-19-SES' reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.906; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.754). The COVID-19-SES showed good content validity (scale's content validity index = 0.92) and good criterion validity when the participants' results on the COVID-19-SES were compared to their general self-efficacy (r = 0.38; < 0.001). Construct validity analysis revealed that the COVID-19-SES' three-factor structure explained 52.12% of the variance found and it was congruent with the World Health Organisation's recommendations to prevent COVID-19 contagion and spread. Legibility analysis showed that the COVID-19-SES is easy to read and understand by laypeople. The COVID-19-SES is a psychometrically robust instrument that allows for a valid and reliable assessment of people's self-efficacy in preventing, detecting symptoms, and home-managing COVID-19.