Abstract

PERAL, Sergio L.; MORGAN, Brandon  and  REDELINGHUYS, Kleinjan. A Rasch analysis of the fear of coronavirus-19 scale in South Africa. SA j. ind. Psychol. [online]. 2021, vol.47, n.1, pp.1-12. ISSN 2071-0763.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v47i0.1861.

ORIENTATION: Investigating the psychological aspects associated with the coronavirus disease might be important for psychological interventions. The fear of coronavirus-19 scale (FCV-19S) has emerged as a popular measure of coronavirus-19-related fear. However, its psychometric properties remain unknown in South AfricaRESEARCH PURPOSE: This study set out to investigate the internal validity of the FCV-19S in the South African context using the Rasch measurement modelMOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: There have been some mixed findings on the psychometric properties of the FCV-19S in international research and its psychometric properties are yet to be investigated in South Africa. Investigating these psychometric properties can provide psychometric information to practitioners who wish to use this instrument in the South African contextRESEARCH APPROACH/DESIGN AND METHOD: A cross-sectional survey research design was used. The FCV-19S was administered to 159 adults. The Rasch partial credit model was applied to the item responses to investigate the measurement quality of the FCV-19SMAIN FINDINGS: The FCV-19S showed somewhat satisfactory internal validity in the South African context within the boundaries of the current sample, and clarity was obtained on the mixed findings obtained in the previous research. Potential shortcomings of the scale were identified that might reduce its applicability to the South African contextPRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Our results provide tentative support for the internal validity of the FCV-19S in South Africa. Suggestions for the improvement of the scale are madeCONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: This is one of the first studies to investigate the internal validity of the FCV-19S in South Africa. Our results hold important implications for the continued use of this scale and have helped to clarify some of the mixed findings obtained in previous research

Keywords : coronavirus-19; fear of coronavirus-19 scale; South Africa; Rasch partial credit model; reliability; validity.

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