• J Anxiety Disord · May 2020

    Development and initial validation of the COVID Stress Scales.

    • Steven Taylor, Caeleigh A Landry, Michelle M Paluszek, Thomas A Fergus, Dean McKay, and Asmundson Gordon J G GJG Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada. Electronic address: gordon.asmundson@uregina.ca..
    • Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
    • J Anxiety Disord. 2020 May 1; 72: 102232.

    AbstractResearch and clinical observations suggest that during times of pandemic many people exhibit stress- or anxiety-related responses that include fear of becoming infected, fear of coming into contact with possibly contaminated objects or surfaces, fear of foreigners who might be carrying infection (i.e., disease-related xenophobia), fear of the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, compulsive checking and reassurance-seeking regarding possible pandemic-related threats, and traumatic stress symptoms about the pandemic (e.g., nightmares, intrusive thoughts). We developed the 36-item COVID Stress Scales (CSS) to measure these features, as they pertain to COVID-19. The CSS were developed to better understand and assess COVID-19-related distress. The scales were intentionally designed so they could be readily adapted for future pandemics. The CSS were developed and initially validated in population-representative samples from Canada (N = 3479) and the United States (N = 3375). A stable 5-factor solution was identified, corresponding to scales assessing COVID-related stress and anxiety symptoms: (1) Danger and contamination fears, (2) fears about economic consequences, (3) xenophobia, (4) compulsive checking and reassurance seeking, and (5) traumatic stress symptoms about COVID-19. The scales performed well on various indices of reliability and validity. The scales were intercorrelated, providing evidence of a COVID Stress Syndrome. The scales offer promise as tools for better understanding the distress associated with COVID-19 and for identifying people in need of mental health services.Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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