TY - JOUR
T1 - The perceived vulnerability to disease scale
T2 - Cross‐cultural measurement invariance and associations with fear of COVID‐19 across 16 countries
AU - Karakulak, Arzu
AU - Stogianni, Maria
AU - Alonso‐Arbiol, Itziar
AU - Shukla, Shanu
AU - Bender, Michael
AU - Yeung, Victoria Wai Lan
AU - Jovanović, Veljko
AU - Musso, Pasquale
AU - Scardigno, Rosa
AU - Scott, Riley A.
AU - Stuart, Jaimee
AU - Friehs, Maria‐Therese
AU - Toh, Zena
AU - Albayrak‐Aydemir, Nihan
AU - Arvanitis, Alexios
AU - Buzea, Carmen
AU - Mastrotheodoros, Stefanos
AU - Tsang, Jo‐Ann
AU - Madeira, Filipa
AU - Miconi, Diana
AU - Pascual, Nicole Russell
AU - Rowatt, Wade C.
AU - Al‐Kire, Rosemary L.
AU - Amar, Moty
AU - Aral, Tugce
AU - Itzchakov, Guy
AU - Mishra, Sushanta Kumar
AU - Porat, Roni
AU - Servidio, Rocco
AU - Stefenel, Delia
AU - Tair, Ergyul
AU - Gkomez, Alexandros
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Social and Personality Psychology Compass published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2023/8/24
Y1 - 2023/8/24
N2 - Using cross-sectional data from N = 4274 young adults across 16 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD) scale and tested the hypothesis that the association between PVD and fear of COVID-19 is stronger under high disease threat [that is, absence of COVID-19 vaccination, living in a country with lower Human Development Index (HDI) or higher COVID-19 mortality]. Results supported a bi-factor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling model where items loaded on a global PVD factor, and on the sub-factors of Perceived Infectability and Germ Aversion. However, cross-national invariance could only be obtained on the configural level with a reduced version of the PVD scale (PVD-r), suggesting that the concept of PVD may vary across nations. Moreover, higher PVD-r was consistently associated with greater fear of COVID-19 across all levels of disease threat, but this association was especially pronounced among individuals with a COVID-19 vaccine, and in contexts where COVID-19 mortality was high. The present research brought clarity into the dimensionality of the PVD measure, discussed its suitability and limitations for cross-cultural research, and highlighted the pandemic-related conditions under which higher PVD is most likely to go along with psychologically maladaptive outcomes, such as fear of COVID-19.
AB - Using cross-sectional data from N = 4274 young adults across 16 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD) scale and tested the hypothesis that the association between PVD and fear of COVID-19 is stronger under high disease threat [that is, absence of COVID-19 vaccination, living in a country with lower Human Development Index (HDI) or higher COVID-19 mortality]. Results supported a bi-factor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling model where items loaded on a global PVD factor, and on the sub-factors of Perceived Infectability and Germ Aversion. However, cross-national invariance could only be obtained on the configural level with a reduced version of the PVD scale (PVD-r), suggesting that the concept of PVD may vary across nations. Moreover, higher PVD-r was consistently associated with greater fear of COVID-19 across all levels of disease threat, but this association was especially pronounced among individuals with a COVID-19 vaccine, and in contexts where COVID-19 mortality was high. The present research brought clarity into the dimensionality of the PVD measure, discussed its suitability and limitations for cross-cultural research, and highlighted the pandemic-related conditions under which higher PVD is most likely to go along with psychologically maladaptive outcomes, such as fear of COVID-19.
KW - Culture
KW - Disease threat
KW - Measurement invariance
KW - Perceived vulnerability to disease
KW - fear of COVID-19
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85169126110&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/spc3.12878
DO - 10.1111/spc3.12878
M3 - Article
SN - 1751-9004
VL - 17
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - Social and Personality Psychology Compass
JF - Social and Personality Psychology Compass
IS - 11
M1 - e12878
ER -