Experiencing fear during the pandemic. The Polish version of the Fear of Covid-19 Scale.
Background. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) is a brief self-report measure developed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic (Ahorsu et al., 2020). The scale evaluates the emotional responses to COVID-19. To date, the FCV-19S has been translated and validated in about 20 languages and has been used in many published research. The current study aimed to validate the Polish version of the FCV-19S.Method. The FCV-19S was translated into Polish using forward- and back-translation. A total of 708 community members (Sample 1: 383 persons, 209 females, Sample 2: 325 persons, 198 females) participated in the study. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the one-factor structure of the FCV-19S. Then, measurement invariance was analyzed across samples, gender, and age groups. To assess the validity of the scale, correlations between the FCV-19S and the remaining scales were computed.Results. Internal consistency of the FCV-19S was good in both samples (Cronbach's alpha .89 and .85). The CFA showed that the one-factor model fits the data well (RMSEA=0.067, 90% CI [0.059, 0.094], CFI= 0.977, TLI=0.965, GFI=0.986). The criteria for configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance were met for all models tested. The FCV-19S scores correlated significantly with age, subjective vulnerability to the disease, neuroticism, self-reported compliance with the pandemic measures, and three kinds of preventive behavior (i.e., social distancing, hand hygiene, and disinfecting things).Conclusion. The current study contributes to the validation of the FCV-19S in the Polish language. The Polish version of the FCV-19S had a unidimensional structure, good reliability, and correlated as predicted with other variables. The scale can be useful not only for scientists but also for practitioners to identify individuals at higher risk of mental health problems related to the Covid-19 pandemic.