Adaptation and initial psychometric study of the anxiety and fear of COVID-19 scale in the United Kingdom population

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was the initial psychometric study to validate the anxiety and fear of COVID-19 (AMICO) assessment scale in the general population of the United Kingdom population.Materials and methodsA descriptive, cross-sectional, psychometric validation and descriptive study was conducted, performing univariate and bivariate analyses, as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.ResultsThe sample was 658 people living in the United Kingdom over 16 years. Of the total, 80.5% were female, with a mean age of 48.25 years (SD = 14.861). A mean score for the AMICO scale of 4.85 (SD = 2.398) was obtained, with a range of scores from 1 to 10. The study of percentiles and quartiles allowed for the identification of three proposed levels of anxiety.ConclusionThe AMICO_UK scale is reliable to measure the presence of anxiety and fear related to the COVID-19 disease in the United Kingdom population. The majority of the United Kingdom population presented low levels of anxiety and fear at the time the scale was administered.