The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-National Measurement Invariance and Convergent Validity Evidence
Date Issued
2024
Author(s)
Jovanović, Veljko
Rudnev, Maksim
Abdelrahman, Mohamed
Kadir, NorBa’yah Abdul
Adebayo, Damilola Fisayo
Akaliyski, Plamen
Alaseel, Rana
Alkamali, Yousuf Abdulqader
Palacio, Luz Marina Alonso
Amin, Azzam
Andres, Andrii
Ansari-Moghaddam, Alireza
Aruta, John Jamir Benzon
Avanesyan, Hrant M.
Ayub, Norzihan
Bacikova-Sleskova, Maria
Baikanova, Raushan
Bakkar, Batoul
Bartoluci, Sunčica
Benitez, David
Bodnar, Ivanna
Bolatov, Aidos
Borchet, Judyta
Bosnar, Ksenija
Broche-Pérez, Yunier
Buzea, Carmen
Cassibba, Rosalinda
Grazioso, Maria del Pilar
Dhakal, Sandesh
Dimitrova, Radosveta
Dominguez, Alejandra
Duong, Cong Doanh
Thome, Luciana Dutra
Estavela, Arune Joao
Fayankinnu, Emmanuel Abiodun
Ferenczi, Nelli
Fernández-Morales, Regina
Friehs, Maria-Therese
Gaete, Jorge
Edine, Wassim Gharz
Gindi, Shahar
Giordani, Rubia Carla Formighieri
Gjoneska, Biljana
Godoy, Juan Carlos
Hancheva, Camellia Doncheva
Hapunda, Given
Hihara, Shogo
Islam, Md. Saiful
Janovská, Anna
Javakhishvili, Nino
Kabir, Russell Sarwar
Kabunga, Amir
Karakulak, Arzu
Karl, Johannes Alfons
Katović, Darko
Kauyzbay, Zhumaly
Kaźmierczak, Maria
Khanna, Richa
Khosla, Meetu
Kisaakye, Peter
Klicperova-Baker, Martina
Kokera, Richman
Kozina, Ana
Krauss, Steven E.
Lefringhausen, Katharina
Lewandowska-Walter, Aleksandra
Liang, Yun-Hsia
Lizarzaburu-Aguinaga, Danny
Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia López
Makashvili, Ana
Malik, Sadia
Manrique-Millones, Denisse
Martín-Carbonell, Marta
Yunes, Maria Angela Mattar
McGrath, Breeda
Mechili, Enkeleint A.
Alvarez, MarinésMejía
Mhizha, Samson
Michałek-Kwiecień, Justyna
Mishra, Sushanta Kumar
Mohammadi, Mahdi
Mohsen, Fatema
Moreta-Herrera, Rodrigo
Muradyan, Maria D.
Musso, Pasquale
Naterer, Andrej
Nemat, Arash
Neto, Félix
Neto, Joana
Okati-Aliabad, Hassan
Orellana, Carlos Iván
Orellana, Ligia
Park, Joonha
Pavlova, Iuliia
Peralta, Eddy Alfonso
Petrytsa, Petro
Valickiene, Rasa Pilkauskaite
Pišot, Saša
Šolcová, Iva Poláčková
Prot, Franjo
Dimitrovska, Gordana Ristevska
Rivera, Rita M.
Riyanti, Benedicta Prihatin Dwi
Saiful, Mohd Saiful Husain
Samekin, Adil
Seisembekov, Telman
Serapinas, Danielius
Sharafi, Zahra
Sharma, Prerna
Shukla, Shanu
Silletti, Fabiola
Skrzypińska, Katarzyna
Smith-Castro, Vanessa
Solomontos-Kountouri, Olga
Stanciu, Adrian
Ştefenel, Delia
Stogianni, Maria
Stuart, Jaimee
Sudarnoto, Laura Francisca
Sultana, Mst Sadia
Sulejmanović, Dijana
Suryani, Angela Oktavia
Tair, Ergyul
Tavitian-Elmadjian, Lucy
Uka, Fitim
Wendt, Guilherme Welter
Yang, Pei-Jung
Yıldırım, Ebrar
Yu, Yue
DOI
10.1037/pas0001270
Abstract
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 alignmentprocedures,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 non-invariance. Wealso 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-3were weakandnegativebutsignificantly 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. © 2023 American Psychological Association


