Validation of the Spanish version of Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Its association with acute stress and coping

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 is a “unique” stressor, which can produce physical and psychological trauma. Coping styles can buffer this psychological impact. Consequently, this paper aims to psychometrically adapt the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to Spanish and examines the relationships between FCV-19S, stress response and coping strategies. Methods The sample comprised a convenience sample of 1146 participants (12-83 years), 880 from Spain (76.8%) and 266 from Dominican Republic (23.2%). Results Overall, the 􀂦ndings support a one-factor structure for FCV-19S, consisting of 7-items, and was invariant across age, sex, occupational status and cross-national. Therefore, indicating evidences of construct validity. Evidences of reliability were also observed (Cronbach’s α = .86, McDonald’s ω = .86, Guttmann’s λ6 = .86, Greatest lower bound = .91, composite reliability = .85, and Average Variance Extracted = .44). Moreover, as regards criterion-related validity, the mediation analysis indicated that the relationship between FCV-19S and acute stress was positive and high, with maladaptive coping styles mediating the relationship, and with a stronger mediation for men. Conclusion The 􀂦ndings give evidences of the reliability and validity of the Spanish version of FCV-19S among Spanish-speaker participants, which provides the chance of cross-cultural studies.