The Development and Initial Tests for the Psychometric Properties of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S)

Overview

Journal Pers Individ Dif

Date 2020 May 13

PMID 32394993

Citations 87

Authors

Ibrahim Arpaci

Kasim Karatas

Mustafa Baloglu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Researchers predict that the negative effects of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will continue . These negative effects are not solely limited to psycho-pathological problems. Serious physiological, social, and economical difficulties due to COVID-19 have already been observed in various nations. In this study, we suggest a new type of specific phobia, which may be categorized under DSM-V 300.29. The current study developed a self-report instrument whose items address the specific phobia diagnosis criteria of the DSM-V and tested its initial psychometric properties. Results show that the scale has initial evidence of construct, convergent, and discriminant validity, and internal consistency reliability. The scale should be further tested; however, the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S) items provide support for assessing the levels of phobia reactions among a wide range of age groups.

Citing Articles

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Nursing students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Badillo-Sanchez N, Gomez-Salgado J, Allande-Cusso R, Yildirim M, Lopez-Lopez D, Goniewicz K Medicine (Baltimore). 2025; 104(2):e40797.

PMID: 39792714 PMC: 11730679. DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000040797.

COVID-19 phobia, personality traits and menopausal symptoms in women in the climacteric period.

Ozberk H, Bilgic D, Ari F, Ozeren M, Basoglu M Prz Menopauzalny. 2024; 23(3):133-139.

PMID: 39464500 PMC: 11504484. DOI: 10.5114/pm.2024.143468.

A cross-sectional survey on COVID-19 phobia and its influencing factors among undergraduate nursing students.

Luo Y, Li J, Qiao X, Zheng M BMC Nurs. 2024; 23(1):749.

PMID: 39396948 PMC: 11472526. DOI: 10.1186/s12912-024-02404-y.

Does the Fear of COVID-19 Impact on Menopausal Symptoms in Women? A Research Investigation.

Soylu Erener N, Mucuk S, Cagli F J Clin Med. 2024; 13(15).

PMID: 39124842 PMC: 11313421. DOI: 10.3390/jcm13154576.

A Worldwide Bibliometric Analysis of Published Literature Assessing Fear of COVID-19.

Cebrino J, Portero de la Cruz S Clin Pract. 2024; 14(3):672-684.

PMID: 38804386 PMC: 11130842. DOI: 10.3390/clinpract14030054.

References

Huang L, Lei W, Xu F, Liu H, Yu L . Emotional responses and coping strategies in nurses and nursing students during Covid-19 outbreak: A comparative study. PLoS One. 2020; 15(8):e0237303. PMC: 7413410. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237303. View

Liu S, Yang L, Zhang C, Xiang Y, Liu Z, Hu S . Online mental health services in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020; 7(4):e17-e18. PMC: 7129099. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30077-8. View

Duan L, Zhu G . Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020; 7(4):300-302. PMC: 7128328. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30073-0. View

Corchs F, Mercante J, Guendler V, Vieira D, Masruha M, Moreira F . Phobias, other psychiatric comorbidities and chronic migraine. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2007; 64(4):950-3. DOI: 10.1590/s0004-282x2006000600012. View

Keyes A, Deale A, Foster C, Veale D . Time intensive cognitive behavioural therapy for a specific phobia of vomiting: A single case experimental design. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2019; 66:101523. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.101523. View

Tausczik Y, Faasse K, Pennebaker J, Petrie K . Public anxiety and information seeking following the H1N1 outbreak: blogs, newspaper articles, and Wikipedia visits. Health Commun. 2011; 27(2):179-85. DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2011.571759. View

Ausin B, Munoz M, Castellanos M, Garcia S . Prevalence and Characterization of Specific Phobia Disorder in People over 65 Years Old in a Madrid Community Sample (Spain) and its Relationship to Quality of Life. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(6). PMC: 7143732. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17061915. View

Li W, Yang Y, Liu Z, Zhao Y, Zhang Q, Zhang L . Progression of Mental Health Services during the COVID-19 Outbreak in China. Int J Biol Sci. 2020; 16(10):1732-1738. PMC: 7098037. DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.45120. View

Qi J, Yang X, Tan R, Wu X, Zhou X . Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among adolescents over 1 year after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. J Affect Disord. 2019; 261:1-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.09.071. View

10.

Hossain M, Sultana A, Purohit N . Mental health outcomes of quarantine and isolation for infection prevention: a systematic umbrella review of the global evidence. Epidemiol Health. 2020; 42:e2020038. PMC: 7644933. DOI: 10.4178/epih.e2020038. View

11.

Hui D, Azhar E, Madani T, Ntoumi F, Kock R, Dar O . The continuing 2019-nCoV epidemic threat of novel coronaviruses to global health - The latest 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. Int J Infect Dis. 2020; 91:264-266. PMC: 7128332. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.01.009. View

12.

Xiang Y, Yang Y, Li W, Zhang L, Zhang Q, Cheung T . Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020; 7(3):228-229. PMC: 7128153. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30046-8. View

13.

Sun L, Sun Z, Wu L, Zhu Z, Zhang F, Shang Z . Prevalence and risk factors for acute posttraumatic stress disorder during the COVID-19 outbreak. J Affect Disord. 2021; 283:123-129. PMC: 7840403. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.050. View

14.

Wu Z, McGoogan J . Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020; 323(13):1239-1242. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.2648. View

15.

Bandelow B, Michaelis S . Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015; 17(3):327-35. PMC: 4610617. View

16.

Liu N, Zhang F, Wei C, Jia Y, Shang Z, Sun L . Prevalence and predictors of PTSS during COVID-19 outbreak in China hardest-hit areas: Gender differences matter. Psychiatry Res. 2020; 287:112921. PMC: 7102622. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112921. View

17.

Wardenaar K, Lim C, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Andrade L, Benjet C . The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys. Psychol Med. 2017; 47(10):1744-1760. PMC: 5674525. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291717000174. View

18.

Qiu J, Shen B, Zhao M, Wang Z, Xie B, Xu Y . A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: implications and policy recommendations. Gen Psychiatr. 2020; 33(2):e100213. PMC: 7061893. DOI: 10.1136/gpsych-2020-100213. View

19.

Kang L, Li Y, Hu S, Chen M, Yang C, Yang B . The mental health of medical workers in Wuhan, China dealing with the 2019 novel coronavirus. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020; 7(3):e14. PMC: 7129673. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30047-X. View

20.

Witthauer C, Ajdacic-Gross V, Meyer A, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Preisig M . Associations of specific phobia and its subtypes with physical diseases: an adult community study. BMC Psychiatry. 2016; 16:155. PMC: 4875678. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-016-0863-0. View