The perceived vulnerability to disease scale : Cross-cultural measurement invariance and associations with fear of COVID-19 across 16 countries

Investor logo

Warning

This publication doesn't include Faculty of Sports Studies. It includes Faculty of Social Studies. Official publication website can be found on muni.cz.
Authors

KARAKULAK Arzu STOGIANNI Maria ALONSO-ARBIOL Itziar SHUKLA Shanu BENDER Michael YEUNG Victoria Wai Lan JOVANOVIĆ Veljko MUSSO Pasquale SCARDIGNO Rosa SCOTT Riley A STUART Jaimee FRIEHS Maria-Therese TOH Zena ALBAYRAK-AYDEMIR Nihan ARVANITIS Alexios BUZEA Carmen MASTROTHEODOROS Stefanos TSANG Jo-Ann MADEIRA Filipa MICONI Diana PASCUAL Nicole Russell ROWATT Wade C AL-KIRE Rosemary L AMAR Moty ARAL Tugce ITZCHAKOV Guy MISHRA Sushanta Kumar PORAT Roni SERVIDIO Rocco STEFENEL Delia TAIR Ergyul GKOMEZ Alexandros

Year of publication 2023
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Social and Personality Psychology Compass
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Social Studies

Citation
Web article - open access
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12878
Keywords culture; disease threat; fear of COVID-19; measurement invariance; perceived vulnerability to disease
Attached files
Description 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.
Related projects:

You are running an old browser version. We recommend updating your browser to its latest version.

More info