Validation of the fear of COVID-19 scale in a central Balkan country - Serbia

VALIDATION OF THE FEAR OF INTRODUCTION: High levels of fear of COVID-19 may be associated with increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as decreased resilience and life expectancy. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to translate and confirm the Serbian version of the Fear of COVID-19 scale as well as to investigate its psychometric properties. METHODS: The translation and intercultural adaptation of the Fear of COVID-19 scale was performed by the leading standard of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research. When the distribution was normal, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. The reliability of the Serbian version of FCV-19S was tested by measuring the internal consistency through the value of Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: The original version of the Fear of COVID-19 scale was tested on a sample of 256 subjects with a mean age of 25.38 ± 12.47. The Cronbach's alpha value was 0.864. We divided the scale by the split-half method (Spearman-Brown), and the value of the coefficient for the questionnaire as a whole was 0.882. Divergent criterion validity was tested through the non-parametric correlation between the scores of the Fear of COVID-19 scale and the Fear of Hospitalization scale. A score of the Fear of COVID-19 scale was calculated as the sum of each question for each of the respondents. Convergent criterion validity was tested through the non-parametric correlation between the scores of the Fear of COVID-19 scale and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire. CONCLUSION: The validated version of the scale in Serbia complements versions available in other cultures and other languages and facilitates global studies related to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.