Develpoment of The Pandemic Anxiety Scale

Abstract

It is aimed to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool that will help to evaluate anxiety related to pandemic in this study. Quantitative research method is conducted in this study. For data analysis, it is collected in two stages from 627 individuals aged 18 and older who lives in various regions and provinces of Turkey. Both construct validity and criteria validity are used to ensure validity. For construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) are conducted. Reliability of the tool is enabled by calculating Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient and item-total score correlation coefficients. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, it is noticed that the Pandemic Anxiety Scale (PAS) explains 56.54% of the total variance, and the scale consists of 26 items gathered in four factors: contagion anxiety, somatic responses, psychosocial effects and dysfunctional beliefs. According to the confirmatory factor analysis, it can be said that the structure revealed in EFA has been confirmed. In the criteria validity analysis, it is concluded that PAS has a moderately positive relationship with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 scale adapted to Turkish by Mantar (2008). In the internal consistency analysis conducted to find out the reliability of the scale and the result of the level on this scale is confirmed to be high. It is observed that item-total score correlation coefficients differ from .36 to .75. In consequence of validity and reliability analysis, it is realized that Pandemic Anxiety Scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool.