1. Anxiety Symptoms, COVID-19-Related Stress Reactions in the Italian General Population, and Validation of the Italian COVID Stress Scales (CSS-I).
- Author
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Del Casale, Antonio, Modesti, Martina Nicole, Lai, Carlo, Carola, Valeria, Mimun, Simone, Bruzzese, Alba, Speranza, Anna Maria, Drakes, Dalainey H., Asmundson, Gordon J. G., and Nicolais, Giampaolo
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SENSATION seeking , *PSYCHOLOGICAL distress , *CONFIRMATORY factor analysis , *ANXIETY , *COVID-19 , *IMMIGRATION opponents - Abstract
Background. The COVID Stress Scales (CSS) assess COVID-related stress experienced in the past week related to danger and contamination fears, socioeconomic consequences, xenophobia, compulsive checking, and reassurance seeking, and traumatic stress symptoms. Our objective was to provide a translation into Italian, replication, and psychometric validation of the CSS in the general population. Moreover, we aimed to test the convergent and discriminant validity of the Italian CSS (CSS-I) with respect to anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms in the general Italian population. Method. Adult participants (n = 935) over the age of 18 years were recruited from the general population in Italy. Psychological status was assessed using multiple validated measures, including the CSS, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), and the Prejudice Against Immigrants Scale (PAIS). Results. Our confirmatory factor analysis supported a 6-factor model, including danger fears (DAN), socioeconomic consequences (SEC), xenophobia (XEN), compulsive checking and reassurance seeking (CHE), contamination fears (CON), and traumatic stress symptoms (TSS). Strong reliability of the CSS-I (Cronbach's α = 0.863–0.936) and convergent validity with the DASS-21 and PAI were established with positive correlations between total and scale scores across measures. Conclusions. The CSS-I is a valid and reliable instrument to measure COVID-19-related distress in the Italian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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