Psychometric evaluation and factor analysis of the Iranian version of the Fear of Guilt Scale (FOGS) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Abstract

Introduction: Fear of guilt is a characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which confirms the centrality of guilt in obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Aim: This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Iranian adaptation of the Fear of Guilt Scale. Method: This study was applied and developmental in terms of aim and psychometric type,respectively. The population included all the people of the three company in Tehran, Iran, in the year 2022 from which 520 adults, were selected by availabile sampling. The Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory (2004) and the Fear of Guilt Scale (2016) were used to collect the data. Besides, mean, standard deviation (SD), exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity and construct validity, SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 24 were run to analyze the data. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the existence of two factors: "punishment" and "prevention of harm." The scale demonstrated favorable convergent validity. Concerning scale reliability, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated at 0.90 for the entire scale, 0.88 for the "punishment" subscale, and 0.75 for the "prevention of harm" subscale which revealed the convergent and construct validity of this questionnaire. Conclusion: This study confirms the psychometric properties of the Fear of Guilt Scale in terms of evaluating the features of fear of guilt in obsessive-compulsive disorder .Future researches can use this tool for the purposes of evaluating and investigating the fear of guilt in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.