Covid-19 fear scale – translation and validation into brazilian portuguese

Abstract

Introduction: fear is one of the main factors associated with psychopathological disor-ders evidenced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: translate and validate Fear of COVID–19 Scale (FCV-19S) into Portuguese Brazilian version, named Covid-19 Fear Scale (EMC-19). Methods: cross-sectional study with 364 individuals recruited through social networks, considering as inclusion criteria: being over 18 years old and fluent in Portuguese. After participant consentment an electronic form was completed, which included the prelimi-nary Portuguese version and EMC-19, in addition to sociodemographic variables. Data processing was performed using the SPSS 26 version. For parametric measures, Pear-son’s coefficient and Student’s T were used, and for non-parametric measures the U of Mann Whitney. The magnitude of the correlation coefficients was classified according to Cohen’s criteria and the confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS 26.0. For internal con-sistency, Cronbach’s alpha. Results: mean age of 33.11 years (±10,047), most of them female (n=332; 91,2%), with higher education (n=286; 78,6%), married (n=225, 61,8 %) and with children (n=300, 82,4%). Exploratory factorial analysis/EFA and confirmatory factor analysis/CFA made. Only one component emerged from the CFA, with an explained variance of 55,49%, re-sulting in a one-dimensional model with satisfactory adjustment indexes (X2/gl=2,135; RMSEA=0,061; CFI, TLI, GFI<0,095). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is 876. Conclusions: the construct validity of the one-dimensional structure of the EMC-19 was demonstrated, as well as its good internal consistency.

Association between Social and Emotional Competencies and Quality of Life in the Context of War, Pandemic and Climate Change

“…Thus, the ability to manage one’s emotions and behaviors in order to facilitate motivation and achieve one’s goals is fundamental to creating positive feelings, enhancing thinking, learning, memory and concentration, self-esteem, body image and appearance, and adequately managing negative feelings. In this period of instability, impositions are a constant reality, routines are changed and decisions are conditioned [ 29 ], and the self-management capacity of individuals and their own motivation is changing; this results in feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as insomnia, stress and changes in the biological rhythm [ 25 , 26 ], which supports the results and alerts us to the possible medium and long-term repercussions of this reality.…”

“…However, it seems that these guidelines were mostly translated into a need for the subject to think about and feel the pandemic, focusing more on the problem and not on the resolution; this seems to have generated a greater level of difficulty in terms of making decisions. This reality resulted in increased symptoms of anxiety and depression, in addition to insomnia, stress and changes in biological rhythm [ 25 , 26 ].…”

“…According to the literature, social isolation has affected various aspects of QoL [ 23 ], is positively correlated with high levels of distress [ 24 ], and has negatively impacted the construction and development of SECs [ 13 ]. During the pandemic, many individuals began to manifest symptoms of anxiety and depression, in addition to insomnia, stress, and changes in biological rhythm [ 25 , 26 ]. It is estimated that 40% to 50% of adults experienced psychological distress following the COVID-19 outbreak, and that 30% of adults and children are at risk of post-traumatic stress [ 27 ].…”

Fear of COVID-19, food insecurity and anxiety in women dwelling in João Pessoa, Paraíba: a cross-sectional study

“…Initially, the scale was validated in Brazil in an adult population by two different groups of researchers [26,27]. Subsequent validations were also published with individuals of both genders [28][29][30][31]33,34] and robust psychometric tests were performed in all of them in order to investigate the validity and reliability of the scale in the Portuguese language version for the Brazilian population.…”

“…The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) is a self-report scale, validated in Brazil [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], consisting of seven items evaluated on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 "totally disagree" to 5 "totally agree", with total scores ranging from 7 to 35 points. The higher the score, the greater the fear reported [35].…”