Psychometric Properties of the COVID-19 Vaccine Anxiety Scale for Adults

Objective: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been a huge challenge for the world's public health and has led to morbid fear and anxiety in many individuals. Further, many people maintain doubts and anxiety about receiving COVID-19 vaccinations due to psychological distortions regarding their effectiveness and safety. Ongoing research is designed to measure the psychometric properties of the COVID-19 Vaccine Anxiety Scale (CVAS), an instrument designed to measure fear and anxieties regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. Methods: Three experimental stages were conducted. The first was to refine the items along the three dimensions of somatic, psychological, and behavioral symptoms. It included 450 participants, whereas the main experiment had 1296 participants, who completed the CVAS questionnaire as well as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). Explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses and internal consistency analyses were performed to measure reliability. Results: The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficients of the scale’s three dimensions i.e., Physiological (Somatic), Psychological and Behavioral Symptoms were calculated as a = 0.91, 0.88, and 0.69, respectively. Factor loadings on the items belonging to each of the three factors varied between 0.62, 0.901, and 0.91. Also, the CVAS was negatively correlated with the Satisfaction with Life Scale as r = -0.325; p<0.001. Conclusions: CVAS is a valid and reliable measure. This study can be used as a reference for future research and practice in measuring anxiety about COVID-19 vaccination. Screening individuals with CVAS can support improvement of life satisfaction for individuals and community mental health.