Development and criterion validity of the COVID-19 anxiety and fear assessment scale: a cross sectional study

Background: The emergence of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes COVID-19 disease, has been a major public health challenge and an increase in the feeling of uncertainty of the population, who is also experiencing an increase in levels of anx iety and fear regarding...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez Salgado, Juan, Allande Cussó, Regina, Rodríguez Domínguez, Carmen, Domínguez Salas, Sara, Camacho Martín, Selena, Romero Ruiz, Adolfo, Ruiz Frutos, Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
Repositorio:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/20606
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10272/20606
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fear
Anxiety
COVID-19
Public health
Mental health
Instrument development
3212 Salud Publica
Descripción
Sumario:Background: The emergence of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes COVID-19 disease, has been a major public health challenge and an increase in the feeling of uncertainty of the population, who is also experiencing an increase in levels of anx iety and fear regarding the COVID-19 disease. Objective: The objective of the study was the construct and criterion validation of the Escala de evaluación de la Ansiedad y MIedo a COVID-19 (AMICO, for its acronym in Spanish) to measure both constructs in the general Spanish population Methods: Descriptive study of psychometric validation. A field study was carried out to execute univariate and bivariate analyses, in addition to the exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis of the scale. For the criteria validity study, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and sensitivity and specificity values were calculated. Results: The study sample was composed of 1036 subjects over 18 years of age, who resided in Spain, where 56.3% were women with a mean age of 48.11 years (SD =15.13). The study of con struct validity reported two factors and 16 items, with a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.92. The scale was concurrently valid with the used gold standard and obtained sensitivity values of 90.48% and specificity values of 76%. Conclusions: The AMICO scale is valid and reliable for assessing the level of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 in the adult Spanish population and is highly sensitive.