Aim The threats of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) have caused fears worldwide. The Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV‐19S) was recently developed to assess the fear of COVID‐19. Although many studies found that the FCV‐19S is psychometrically sound, it is unclear whether the FCV‐19S is invariant across countries. The present study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the FCV‐19S across eleven countries. Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Using data collected from prior research on Bangladesh (N = 8,550), United Kingdom (N = 344), Brazil (N = 1,843), Taiwan (N = 539), Italy (N = 249), New Zealand (N = 317), Iran (N = 717), Cuba (N = 772), Pakistan (N = 937), Japan (N = 1,079) and France (N = 316), comprising a total 15,663 participants, the present study used the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch differential item functioning (DIF) to examine the measurement invariance of the FCV‐19S across country, gender and age (children aged below 18 years, young to middle‐aged adults aged between 18 and 60 years, and older people aged above 60 years). Results The unidimensional structure of the FCV‐19S was confirmed. Multigroup CFA showed that FCV‐19S was partially invariant across country and fully invariant across gender and age. DIF findings were consistent with the findings from multigroup CFA. Many DIF items were displayed for country, few DIF items were displayed for age, and no DIF items were displayed for gender. Conclusion Based on the results of the present study, the FCV‐19S is a good psychometric instrument to assess fear of COVID‐19 during the pandemic period. Moreover, the use of FCV‐19S is supported in at least ten countries with satisfactory psychometric properties.

Ransing et al. (2020) recently summarized the current available instruments for assessing mental health issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Among the four instruments reviewed by Ransing et al. (2020) was the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) that we co-developed and rated as having the most evidence in relation to its psychometric properties. While the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) (Lee, 2020) and the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS) (Lee, 2020) both have versions in other languages, only their English versions have been psychometrically validated. Moreover, the COVID Stress Scale (CSS) (Taylor et al., 2020) has only been validated in English. However, the FCV-19S, as reviewed by Ransing et al. (2020), has been translated into different language versions and tested in different country populations. Ransing et al. (2020) recommend that there is a need to translate, validate, and cultural-adapt the existing instruments. We would like to point out that the FCV-19S has already been validated in many languages with good psychometric properties in

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