Fear and Stigma of COVID-19 Reinfection Scale (FSoCOVID-19RS): New Scale Development and Validation

Abstract

Background: The advent of COVID-19 and its impacts have prompted fear and stigma among people all across the world. Because of stigma, there was often a delay in diagnosis and treatment, which resulted in a poor prognosis. As a result, a reliable scale is required to measure the level of fear and stigma of COVID-19 reinfection. Aim: To develop and validate a scale for determining the level of fear and stigma of COVID-19 reinfection. Methods: A cross-sectional study including 200 nursing-college students who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 was conducted. The scale’s reliability was evaluated by external and internal consistency methods. Construct, convergent, and discriminant validity were evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The scale’s mean score was 24.85 ± 11.35, and no floor or ceiling effects were detected. The scale items’ reliability, measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient if an item was deleted, ranged from 0.76 to 0.95, with a total score value of 0.86. The range of convergent validity coefficients was between 0.37 and 0.64. Pearson’s correlation coefficients for test–retest validity ranged from 0.71 to 0.93, with a total score of 0.82. The coefficient of split-half correlation was 0.87, while the coefficient of reliability was 0.93. According to the factor analysis, two components had latent roots larger than 1. The rotated component matrix of the two factors revealed that all items had R values over 0.30, indicating that none of them should be excluded. In addition, CFA results revealed that χ2 = 3524, df = 1283, χ2/df ratio = 2.74, p < 0.001, GFI = 0.86, CFI = 0.92, AGFI = 0.88, and RMSEA = 0.05. The scale’s convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed. Conclusions: The 14-item, two-dimensional Fear and Stigma of COVID-19 Reinfection Scale (FSoCOVID-19 RS) was demonstrated to have reliable psychometric properties.