Fear of COVID-19 in Romania: Validation of the Romanian Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale Using Graded Response Model Analysis

Abstract

One of the basic emotions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is the fear of contacting this disease. The main aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), based on classical test theory and item response theory, namely, graded response model. The FCV-19S was translated into Romanian following a forward-backward translation procedure. The reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed in a sample of 809 adults (34.6% males; Mage = 32.61; SD ±11.25; age range from 18 to 68 years). Results showed that the Romanian FCV-19S had very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha =.88; McDonald’s omega =.89; composite reliability =.89). The confirmatory factor analysis for one-factor FCV-19S based on the maximum likelihood estimation method with Satorra-Bentler correction for non-normality proved that the model fitted well (CFI =.99, TLI =.97, RMSEA =.06, 90% CI [.05,.09], SRMR =.01). As for criterion-related validity, the fear of COVID-19 score correlated with depression (r =.25, p