Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the COVID-19 Impact Scale in university students

Abstract

The psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have substantially changed and this requires a new measurement tool reflecting these changes. The COVID-19 Impact Scale (CIS) assesses the psychological stress responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, for the first time, examined the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the CIS in university students by focusing on its internal consistency reliability, factor structure, criterion validity and predictive validity. Using a cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 486 university students studying at a public university in Turkey. Participants completed the CIS and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6 using an online survey. The results showed that the CIS had excellent internal consistency reliability. Results of exploratory and confirmatory yielded a one-factor solution for the scale with high factor loadings. Also, the results showed that the CIS was not only significantly positively correlated with psychological distress but also accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in the prediction of psychological distress after controlling for the effects of age and gender. These results suggest that the CIS is a psychometrically sound scale with good evidence of reliability and validity in Turkish university students. The CIS can be confidently used for research and clinical practices.