The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale:  Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence

Veljko Jovanović; Maksim Rudnev; Mohamed Abdelrahman; Nor Ba'yah Abdul Kadir; Damilola Fisayo Adebayo; Plamen Akaliyski; Rana Alaseel; Yousuf Abdulqader Alkamali; Luz Marina Alonso Palacio; Azzam Amin; Andrii Andres; Alireza Ansari-Moghaddam; John Jamir Benzon Aruta; Hrant M. Avanesyan; Norzihan Ayub; Maria Bacikova-Sleskova; Raushan Baikanova; Batoul Bakkar; Sunčica Bartoluci; David Benitez; Ivanna Bodnar; Aidos Bolatov; Judyta Borchet; Ksenija Bosnar; Yunier Broche-Pérez; Carmen Buzea; Rosalinda Cassibba; Maria del Pilar Grazioso; Sandesh Dhakal; Radosveta Dimitrova; Alejandra Dominguez; Cong Doanh Duong; Luciana Dutra Thome; Arune Joao Estavela; Emmanuel Abiodun Fayankinnu; Nelli Ferenczi; Regina Fernández-Morales; Jorge Gaete; Maria-Therese Friehs; Wassim Gharz Edine; Shahar Gindi; Rubia Carla Formighieri Giordani; Biljana Gjoneska; Juan Carlos Godoy; Camellia Doncheva Hancheva; Given Hapunda; Shogo Hihara; Md Saiful Islam; Anna Janovská; Nino Javakhishvili; Russell Sarwar Kabir; Amir  Kabunga; Arzu  Karakulak; Johannes Alfons  Karl; Darko  Katovic; Zhumaly  Kauyzbay; Maria  Kaźmierczak; Richa  Khanna; Meetu  Khosla; Peter  Kisaakye; Martina  Klicperova-Baker; Richman  Kokera; Ana  Kozina; Steven E.  Krauss; Rodrigo Landabur; Katharina Lefringhausen; Aleksandra  Lewandowska-Walter; Yun-Hsia Liang; , Danny  Lizarzaburu-Aguinaga; Lorena Cecilia  Lopez Steinmetz; Ana Makashvili; Sadia Malik; Denisse Manrique-Millones; Marta Martín-Carbonell; Maria Angela Mattar Yunes; Breeda McGrath; Enkeleint A.  Mechili; Marinés Mejía Alvarez; Samson Mhizha; Justyna  Michałek-Kwiecień; Sushanta Kumar Mishra; Mahdi Mohammadi; Fatema Mohsen; Rodrigo  Moreta-Herrera; Maria D. Muradyan; Pasquale Musso; Andrej Naterer; Arash Nemat; Félix Neto; Joana Neto; Hassan Okati-Aliabad; Carlos Iván   Orellana; Ligia Orellana; Joonha Park; Iuliia Pavlova; Eddy Alfonso Peralta; Petro Petrytsa; Rasa Pilkauskaite Valickiene; Saša Pišot; Iva Poláčková Šolcová; Franjo Prot; Gordana  Ristevska Dimitrovska; Rita M. Rivera; Benedicta Prihatin Dwi Riyanti; Mohd Saiful Husain Saiful; Adil  Samekin; Telman Seisembekov; Danielius Serapinas; Zahra Sharafi; Prerna Sharma; Shanu Shukla; Fabiola Silletti; Katarzyna Skrzypińska; Vanessa  Smith-Castro; Olga Solomontos-Kountouri; Adrian Stanciu; Delia  Ştefenel; Maria Stogianni; Jaimee Stuart; Laura Francisca Sudarnoto; Mst Sadia Sultana; Dijana Sulejmanovic; Angela Oktavia Suryani; Ergyul Tair; Lucy  Tavitian-Elmadjian; Fitim Uka; Guilherme Welter Wendt; Pei-Jung Yang; Ebrar Yıldırım; Yue Yu

doi:10.1037/pas0001270

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence

Veljko Jovanović^*, Maksim Rudnev, Mohamed Abdelrahman, Nor Ba'yah Abdul Kadir, Damilola Fisayo Adebayo, Plamen Akaliyski, Rana Alaseel, Yousuf Abdulqader Alkamali, Luz Marina Alonso Palacio, Azzam Amin, Andrii Andres, Alireza Ansari-Moghaddam, John Jamir Benzon Aruta, Hrant M. Avanesyan, Norzihan Ayub, Maria Bacikova-Sleskova, Raushan Baikanova, Batoul Bakkar, Sunčica Bartoluci, David BenitezIvanna Bodnar, Aidos Bolatov, Judyta Borchet, Ksenija Bosnar, Yunier Broche-Pérez, Carmen Buzea, Rosalinda Cassibba, Maria del Pilar Grazioso, Sandesh Dhakal, Radosveta Dimitrova, Alejandra Dominguez, Cong Doanh Duong, Luciana Dutra Thome, Arune Joao Estavela, Emmanuel Abiodun Fayankinnu, Nelli Ferenczi, Regina Fernández-Morales, Jorge Gaete, Maria-Therese Friehs, Wassim Gharz Edine, Shahar Gindi, Rubia Carla Formighieri Giordani, Biljana Gjoneska, Juan Carlos Godoy, Camellia Doncheva Hancheva, Given Hapunda, Shogo Hihara, Md Saiful Islam, Anna Janovská, Nino Javakhishvili, Russell Sarwar Kabir, Amir Kabunga, Arzu Karakulak, Johannes Alfons Karl, Darko Katovic, Zhumaly Kauyzbay, Maria Kaźmierczak, Richa Khanna, Meetu Khosla, Peter Kisaakye, Martina Klicperova-Baker, Richman Kokera, Ana Kozina, Steven E. Krauss, Rodrigo Landabur, Katharina Lefringhausen, Aleksandra Lewandowska-Walter, Yun-Hsia Liang, , Danny Lizarzaburu-Aguinaga, Lorena Cecilia Lopez Steinmetz, Ana Makashvili, Sadia Malik, Denisse Manrique-Millones, Marta Martín-Carbonell, Maria Angela Mattar Yunes, Breeda McGrath, Enkeleint A. Mechili, Marinés Mejía Alvarez, Samson Mhizha, Justyna Michałek-Kwiecień, Sushanta Kumar Mishra, Mahdi Mohammadi, Fatema Mohsen, Rodrigo Moreta-Herrera, Maria D. Muradyan, Pasquale Musso, Andrej Naterer, Arash Nemat, Félix Neto, Joana Neto, Hassan Okati-Aliabad, Carlos Iván Orellana, Ligia Orellana, Joonha Park, Iuliia Pavlova, Eddy Alfonso Peralta, Petro Petrytsa, Rasa Pilkauskaite Valickiene, Saša Pišot, Iva Poláčková Šolcová, Franjo Prot, Gordana Ristevska Dimitrovska, Rita M. Rivera, Benedicta Prihatin Dwi Riyanti, Mohd Saiful Husain Saiful , Adil Samekin, Telman Seisembekov, Danielius Serapinas, Zahra Sharafi, Prerna Sharma, Shanu Shukla, Fabiola Silletti, Katarzyna Skrzypińska, Vanessa Smith-Castro, Olga Solomontos-Kountouri, Adrian Stanciu, Delia Ştefenel, Maria Stogianni, Jaimee Stuart, Laura Francisca Sudarnoto, Mst Sadia Sultana, Dijana Sulejmanovic, Angela Oktavia Suryani, Ergyul Tair, Lucy Tavitian-Elmadjian, Fitim Uka, Guilherme Welter Wendt, Pei-Jung Yang, Ebrar Yıldırım, Yue Yu

^*Corresponding author for this work

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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 alignment procedures, 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. We also 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-3 were weak and negative but significantly 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	14-29
Number of pages	16
Journal	Psychological Assessment
Volume	36
Issue number	1
Early online date	Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001270
Publication status	Published - 27 Nov 2023

Keywords

Alignment
Coronavirus anxiety
Culture
Measurement invariance
Validity

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10.1037/pas0001270

Psych assesment 2024Final published version, 388 KBLicence: Taverne

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Jovanović, V., Rudnev, M., Abdelrahman, M., Kadir, N. B. A., Adebayo, D. F., Akaliyski, P., Alaseel, R., Alkamali, Y. A., Palacio, L. M. A., Amin, A., Andres, A., Ansari-Moghaddam, A., Aruta, J. J. B., Avanesyan, H. M., Ayub, N., Bacikova-Sleskova, M., Baikanova, R., Bakkar, B., Bartoluci, S., ... Yu, Y. (2023). The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence. Psychological Assessment, 36(1), 14-29. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001270

@article{7180762536a44c2ea996a2a2c2d34b3e,

title = "The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence",

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{\textquoteright}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 alignment procedures, 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. We also 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-3 were weak and negative but significantly 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. ",

keywords = "Alignment, Coronavirus anxiety, Culture, Measurement invariance, Validity",

author = "Veljko Jovanovi{\'c} and Maksim Rudnev and Mohamed Abdelrahman and Kadir, {Nor Ba'yah Abdul} and Adebayo, {Damilola Fisayo} and Plamen Akaliyski and Rana Alaseel and Alkamali, {Yousuf Abdulqader} and Palacio, {Luz Marina Alonso} and Azzam Amin and Andrii Andres and Alireza Ansari-Moghaddam and Aruta, {John Jamir Benzon} and Avanesyan, {Hrant M.} and Norzihan Ayub and Maria Bacikova-Sleskova and Raushan Baikanova and Batoul Bakkar and Sun{\v c}ica Bartoluci and David Benitez and Ivanna Bodnar and Aidos Bolatov and Judyta Borchet and Ksenija Bosnar and Yunier Broche-P{\'e}rez and Carmen Buzea and Rosalinda Cassibba and Grazioso, {Maria del Pilar} and Sandesh Dhakal and Radosveta Dimitrova and Alejandra Dominguez and Duong, {Cong Doanh} and Thome, {Luciana Dutra} and Estavela, {Arune Joao} and Fayankinnu, {Emmanuel Abiodun} and Nelli Ferenczi and Regina Fern{\'a}ndez-Morales and Jorge Gaete and Maria-Therese Friehs and Edine, {Wassim Gharz} and Shahar Gindi and Giordani, {Rubia Carla Formighieri} and Biljana Gjoneska and Godoy, {Juan Carlos} and Hancheva, {Camellia Doncheva} and Given Hapunda and Shogo Hihara and Islam, {Md Saiful} and Anna Janovsk{\'a} and Nino Javakhishvili and Kabir, {Russell Sarwar} and Amir Kabunga and Arzu Karakulak and Karl, {Johannes Alfons} and Darko Katovic and Zhumaly Kauyzbay and Maria Ka{\'z}mierczak and Richa Khanna and Meetu Khosla and Peter Kisaakye and Martina Klicperova-Baker and Richman Kokera and Ana Kozina and Krauss, {Steven E.} and Rodrigo Landabur and Katharina Lefringhausen and Aleksandra Lewandowska-Walter and Yun-Hsia Liang and Lizarzaburu-Aguinaga, {, Danny} and {Lopez Steinmetz}, {Lorena Cecilia} and Ana Makashvili and Sadia Malik and Denisse Manrique-Millones and Marta Mart{\'i}n-Carbonell and {Mattar Yunes}, {Maria Angela} and Breeda McGrath and Mechili, {Enkeleint A.} and {Mej{\'i}a Alvarez}, Marin{\'e}s and Samson Mhizha and Justyna Micha{\l}ek-Kwiecie{\'n} and Mishra, {Sushanta Kumar} and Mahdi Mohammadi and Fatema Mohsen and Rodrigo Moreta-Herrera and Muradyan, {Maria D.} and Pasquale Musso and Andrej Naterer and Arash Nemat and F{\'e}lix Neto and Joana Neto and Hassan Okati-Aliabad and Orellana, {Carlos Iv{\'a}n} and Ligia Orellana and Joonha Park and Iuliia Pavlova and Peralta, {Eddy Alfonso} and Petro Petrytsa and {Pilkauskaite Valickiene}, Rasa and Sa{\v s}a Pi{\v s}ot and {Pol{\'a}{\v c}kov{\'a} {\v S}olcov{\'a}}, Iva and Franjo Prot and {Ristevska Dimitrovska}, Gordana and Rivera, {Rita M.} and Riyanti, {Benedicta Prihatin Dwi} and Saiful, {Mohd Saiful Husain} and Adil Samekin and Telman Seisembekov and Danielius Serapinas and Zahra Sharafi and Prerna Sharma and Shanu Shukla and Fabiola Silletti and Katarzyna Skrzypi{\'n}ska and Vanessa Smith-Castro and Olga Solomontos-Kountouri and Adrian Stanciu and Delia {\c S}tefenel and Maria Stogianni and Jaimee Stuart and Sudarnoto, {Laura Francisca} and Sultana, {Mst Sadia} and Dijana Sulejmanovic and Suryani, {Angela Oktavia} and Ergyul Tair and Lucy Tavitian-Elmadjian and Fitim Uka and {Welter Wendt}, Guilherme and Pei-Jung Yang and Ebrar Yıldırım and Yue Yu",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1037/pas0001270",

language = "English",

volume = "36",

pages = "14--29",

journal = "Psychological Assessment",

issn = "1040-3590",

publisher = "American Psychological Association",

number = "1",

}

Jovanović, V, Rudnev, M, Abdelrahman, M, Kadir, NBA, Adebayo, DF, Akaliyski, P, Alaseel, R, Alkamali, YA, Palacio, LMA, Amin, A, Andres, A, Ansari-Moghaddam, A, Aruta, JJB, Avanesyan, HM, Ayub, N, Bacikova-Sleskova, M, Baikanova, R, Bakkar, B, Bartoluci, S, Benitez, D, Bodnar, I, Bolatov, A, Borchet, J, Bosnar, K, Broche-Pérez, Y, Buzea, C, Cassibba, R, Grazioso, MDP, Dhakal, S, Dimitrova, R, Dominguez, A, Duong, CD, Thome, LD, Estavela, AJ, Fayankinnu, EA, Ferenczi, N, Fernández-Morales, R, Gaete, J, Friehs, M-T, Edine, WG, Gindi, S, Giordani, RCF, Gjoneska, B, Godoy, JC, Hancheva, CD, Hapunda, G, Hihara, S, Islam, MS, Janovská, A, Javakhishvili, N, Kabir, RS, Kabunga, A, Karakulak, A, Karl, JA, Katovic, D, Kauyzbay, Z, Kaźmierczak, M, Khanna, R, Khosla, M, Kisaakye, P, Klicperova-Baker, M, Kokera, R, Kozina, A, Krauss, SE, Landabur, R, Lefringhausen, K, Lewandowska-Walter, A, Liang, Y-H, Lizarzaburu-Aguinaga, D, Lopez Steinmetz, LC, Makashvili, A, Malik, S, Manrique-Millones, D, Martín-Carbonell, M, Mattar Yunes, MA, McGrath, B, Mechili, EA, Mejía Alvarez, M, Mhizha, S, Michałek-Kwiecień, J, Mishra, SK, Mohammadi, M, Mohsen, F, Moreta-Herrera, R, Muradyan, MD, Musso, P, Naterer, A, Nemat, A, Neto, F, Neto, J, Okati-Aliabad, H, Orellana, CI, Orellana, L, Park, J, Pavlova, I, Peralta, EA, Petrytsa, P, Pilkauskaite Valickiene, R, Pišot, S, Poláčková Šolcová, I, Prot, F, Ristevska Dimitrovska, G, Rivera, RM, Riyanti, BPD, Saiful , MSH, Samekin, A, Seisembekov, T, Serapinas, D, Sharafi, Z, Sharma, P, Shukla, S, Silletti, F, Skrzypińska, K, Smith-Castro, V, Solomontos-Kountouri, O, Stanciu, A, Ştefenel, D, Stogianni, M, Stuart, J, Sudarnoto, LF, Sultana, MS, Sulejmanovic, D, Suryani, AO, Tair, E, Tavitian-Elmadjian, L, Uka, F, Welter Wendt, G, Yang, P-J, Yıldırım, E & Yu, Y 2023, 'The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence', Psychological Assessment, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 14-29. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001270

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale

T2 - Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence

AU - Jovanović, Veljko

AU - Rudnev, Maksim

AU - Abdelrahman, Mohamed

AU - Kadir, Nor Ba'yah Abdul

AU - Adebayo, Damilola Fisayo

AU - Akaliyski, Plamen

AU - Alaseel, Rana

AU - Alkamali, Yousuf Abdulqader

AU - Palacio, Luz Marina Alonso

AU - Amin, Azzam

AU - Andres, Andrii

AU - Ansari-Moghaddam, Alireza

AU - Aruta, John Jamir Benzon

AU - Avanesyan, Hrant M.

AU - Ayub, Norzihan

AU - Bacikova-Sleskova, Maria

AU - Baikanova, Raushan

AU - Bakkar, Batoul

AU - Bartoluci, Sunčica

AU - Benitez, David

AU - Bodnar, Ivanna

AU - Bolatov, Aidos

AU - Borchet, Judyta

AU - Bosnar, Ksenija

AU - Broche-Pérez, Yunier

AU - Buzea, Carmen

AU - Cassibba, Rosalinda

AU - Grazioso, Maria del Pilar

AU - Dhakal, Sandesh

AU - Dimitrova, Radosveta

AU - Dominguez, Alejandra

AU - Duong, Cong Doanh

AU - Thome, Luciana Dutra

AU - Estavela, Arune Joao

AU - Fayankinnu, Emmanuel Abiodun

AU - Ferenczi, Nelli

AU - Fernández-Morales, Regina

AU - Gaete, Jorge

AU - Friehs, Maria-Therese

AU - Edine, Wassim Gharz

AU - Gindi, Shahar

AU - Giordani, Rubia Carla Formighieri

AU - Gjoneska, Biljana

AU - Godoy, Juan Carlos

AU - Hancheva, Camellia Doncheva

AU - Hapunda, Given

AU - Hihara, Shogo

AU - Islam, Md Saiful

AU - Janovská, Anna

AU - Javakhishvili, Nino

AU - Kabir, Russell Sarwar

AU - Kabunga, Amir

AU - Karakulak, Arzu

AU - Karl, Johannes Alfons

AU - Katovic, Darko

AU - Kauyzbay, Zhumaly

AU - Kaźmierczak, Maria

AU - Khanna, Richa

AU - Khosla, Meetu

AU - Kisaakye, Peter

AU - Klicperova-Baker, Martina

AU - Kokera, Richman

AU - Kozina, Ana

AU - Krauss, Steven E.

AU - Landabur, Rodrigo

AU - Lefringhausen, Katharina

AU - Lewandowska-Walter, Aleksandra

AU - Liang, Yun-Hsia

AU - Lizarzaburu-Aguinaga, , Danny

AU - Lopez Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia

AU - Makashvili, Ana

AU - Malik, Sadia

AU - Manrique-Millones, Denisse

AU - Martín-Carbonell, Marta

AU - Mattar Yunes, Maria Angela

AU - McGrath, Breeda

AU - Mechili, Enkeleint A.

AU - Mejía Alvarez, Marinés

AU - Mhizha, Samson

AU - Michałek-Kwiecień, Justyna

AU - Mishra, Sushanta Kumar

AU - Mohammadi, Mahdi

AU - Mohsen, Fatema

AU - Moreta-Herrera, Rodrigo

AU - Muradyan, Maria D.

AU - Musso, Pasquale

AU - Naterer, Andrej

AU - Nemat, Arash

AU - Neto, Félix

AU - Neto, Joana

AU - Okati-Aliabad, Hassan

AU - Orellana, Carlos Iván

AU - Orellana, Ligia

AU - Park, Joonha

AU - Pavlova, Iuliia

AU - Peralta, Eddy Alfonso

AU - Petrytsa, Petro

AU - Pilkauskaite Valickiene, Rasa

AU - Pišot, Saša

AU - Poláčková Šolcová, Iva

AU - Prot, Franjo

AU - Ristevska Dimitrovska, Gordana

AU - Rivera, Rita M.

AU - Riyanti, Benedicta Prihatin Dwi

AU - Saiful , Mohd Saiful Husain

AU - Samekin, Adil

AU - Seisembekov, Telman

AU - Serapinas, Danielius

AU - Sharafi, Zahra

AU - Sharma, Prerna

AU - Shukla, Shanu

AU - Silletti, Fabiola

AU - Skrzypińska, Katarzyna

AU - Smith-Castro, Vanessa

AU - Solomontos-Kountouri, Olga

AU - Stanciu, Adrian

AU - Ştefenel, Delia

AU - Stogianni, Maria

AU - Stuart, Jaimee

AU - Sudarnoto, Laura Francisca

AU - Sultana, Mst Sadia

AU - Sulejmanovic, Dijana

AU - Suryani, Angela Oktavia

AU - Tair, Ergyul

AU - Tavitian-Elmadjian, Lucy

AU - Uka, Fitim

AU - Welter Wendt, Guilherme

AU - Yang, Pei-Jung

AU - Yıldırım, Ebrar

AU - Yu, Yue

PY - 2023/11/27

Y1 - 2023/11/27

N2 - 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 alignment procedures, 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. We also 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-3 were weak and negative but significantly 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.

AB - 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 alignment procedures, 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. We also 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-3 were weak and negative but significantly 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.

KW - Alignment

KW - Coronavirus anxiety

KW - Culture

KW - Measurement invariance

KW - Validity

U2 - 10.1037/pas0001270

DO - 10.1037/pas0001270

M3 - Article

SN - 1040-3590

VL - 36

SP - 14

EP - 29

JO - Psychological Assessment

JF - Psychological Assessment

IS - 1

ER -

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence

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