The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence

Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) is a widely used measure that captures somatic symptoms of coronavirus-related anxiety. In a large-scale collaboration spanning 60 countries (Ntotal = 21,513), we examined the CAS's measurement invariance and assessed the convergent validity of CAS scores in rela...

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Main Authors: Jovanović, Veljko, Rudnev, Maksim, Krauss, Steven Eric
Format: Article
Published: American Psychological Association 2024
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105866/
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author Jovanović, Veljko
Rudnev, Maksim
Krauss, Steven Eric
author_facet Jovanović, Veljko
Rudnev, Maksim
Krauss, Steven Eric
author_sort Jovanović, Veljko
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) is a widely used measure that captures somatic symptoms of coronavirus-related anxiety. In a large-scale collaboration spanning 60 countries (Ntotal = 21,513), we examined the CAS's measurement invariance and assessed the convergent validity of CAS scores in relation to the fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) and the satisfaction with life (SWLS-3) scales. We utilized both conventional exact invariance tests and alignment procedures, with results revealing that the single-factor model fit the data well in almost all countries. Partial scalar invariance was supported in a subset of 56 countries. To ensure the robustness of results, given the unbalanced samples, we employed resampling techniques both with and without replacement and found the results were more stable in larger samples. The alignment procedure demonstrated a high degree of measurement invariance with 9 of the parameters exhibiting noninvariance. We also conducted simulations of alignment using the parameters estimated in the current model. Findings demonstrated reliability of the means but indicated challenges in estimating the latent variances. Strong positive correlations between CAS and FCV-19S estimated with all three different approaches were found in most countries. Correlations of CAS and SWLS-3 were weak and negative but significantly differed from zero in several countries. Overall, the study provided support for the measurement invariance of the CAS and offered evidence of its convergent validity while also highlighting issues with variance estimation.
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spelling upm-1058662024-03-27T01:12:32Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105866/ The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence Jovanović, Veljko Rudnev, Maksim Krauss, Steven Eric Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) is a widely used measure that captures somatic symptoms of coronavirus-related anxiety. In a large-scale collaboration spanning 60 countries (Ntotal = 21,513), we examined the CAS's measurement invariance and assessed the convergent validity of CAS scores in relation to the fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) and the satisfaction with life (SWLS-3) scales. We utilized both conventional exact invariance tests and alignment procedures, with results revealing that the single-factor model fit the data well in almost all countries. Partial scalar invariance was supported in a subset of 56 countries. To ensure the robustness of results, given the unbalanced samples, we employed resampling techniques both with and without replacement and found the results were more stable in larger samples. The alignment procedure demonstrated a high degree of measurement invariance with 9 of the parameters exhibiting noninvariance. We also conducted simulations of alignment using the parameters estimated in the current model. Findings demonstrated reliability of the means but indicated challenges in estimating the latent variances. Strong positive correlations between CAS and FCV-19S estimated with all three different approaches were found in most countries. Correlations of CAS and SWLS-3 were weak and negative but significantly differed from zero in several countries. Overall, the study provided support for the measurement invariance of the CAS and offered evidence of its convergent validity while also highlighting issues with variance estimation. American Psychological Association 2024 Article PeerReviewed Jovanović, Veljko and Rudnev, Maksim and Krauss, Steven Eric (2024) The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence. Psychological assessment, 36 (1). pp. 14-29. ISSN 1040-3590; ESSN: 1939-134X https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpas0001270 10.1037/pas0001270
spellingShingle Jovanović, Veljko
Rudnev, Maksim
Krauss, Steven Eric
The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
title The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
title_full The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
title_fullStr The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
title_full_unstemmed The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
title_short The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
title_sort coronavirus anxiety scale: cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105866/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105866/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105866/