Open AccessA multi‐centric study on validation of the Fear Scale for COVID‐19 in five Arabic speaking countries
Author(s) -
Deek Hiba,
El Nayal Mayssah,
Alabdulwahhab Khalid,
Ahmad Mohammad,
Shaik Riyaz,
Alzahrani Meshari,
Elmahdi Iman,
Youssef Naglaa,
Alboraie Mohamed,
Fong Daniel YT,
Choi Edmond Pui Hang,
Chan Bobo Kai Yin,
Omar Nagla
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
brain and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 2162-3279
DOI - 10.1002/brb3.2375
Subject(s) - scale (ratio) , cronbach's alpha , psychology , arabic , feeling , convergent validity , clinical psychology , validity , reliability (semiconductor) , psychometrics , social psychology , geography , internal consistency , linguistics , philosophy , cartography , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
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.