The Pandemic-Related Difficulties Scale: Its Development and Psychometric Features in a Turkish Sample

Abstract

This study was performed with the aim of developing a scale to determine difficulties experienced by people related to the pandemic in Turkey. A total of 500 participants completed an online survey in late June 2020. Cronbach alpha reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for determination of the difficulties relating to the pandemic scale. The study data were collected online using a “personal information form” and the “difficulties related to the pandemic scale”. As a result of statistical analyses about development of the ‘Difficulties related to the Pandemic Scale (DPS)’ the scale was determined to contain four factors and exhibited good reliability (0.70-0.93). The confirmatory factor analysis results for the structure supported the fit of the four-factor model ( 2.346, GFI= .975, RMSEA= .0051, SRMR=0.072). The obtained findings show the difficulties related to the pandemic scale (DPS) can be validly and reliably used for Turkish society. Difficulties related to the Pandemic Scale (DPS) is a low-cost measurement tool that captures the difficulties individuals experience during the epidemic period and can be used to determine the psychosocial resources they need.