Psychometric Validation of the Persian Version of the COVID-19-Related Psychological Distress Scale and Association with COVID-19 Fear, COVID-19 Anxiety, Optimism, and Lack of Resilience

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a global health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused psychological distress, both in infected and uninfected individuals. The present study evaluated the validity and factor structure of the COVID-19-Related Psychological Distress Scale (CORPDS) among the general public of the Persian-speaking population. The original version of the CORPDS was translated and back-translated into Persian, followed by a pilot study. A total sample (n = 623) completed an online survey including the CORPDS, Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). The Persian CORPDS had very good internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability after 4 weeks. Maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test construct validity (χ(2)/df = 2.39, CFI = 0.95, SRMR = 0.046, PCLOSE = 0.67 > 0.05, RMSEA = 0.047, 90% CI [0.038, 0.056]). Measurement invariance was performed across gender, including configural invariance, metric invariance, scalar invariance, and error variance invariance, and yielded further support for the two-factor structure of the CORPDS. The CORPDS correlated with the score on the K10 (r = 0.46, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.43, 0.48]), CAS (r = 0.43, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.37, 0.45]), FCV-19S (r = 0.29, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.27, 0.32]), LOT-R (r = − 0.19, p < 0.01, 95% CI [− 0.15, − 0.24]) and BRS (r = − 0.56, p < 0.01, 95% CI [− 0.50, − 0.61]). Resilience was associated with lower psychological distress (β = − 0.54, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001). The findings provide evidence that CORPDS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing psychological distress generated by COVID-19 among a healthy Persian-speaking population.