Abstract
The emergence and rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the lives of billions of people worldwide. In addition to significant worldwide public health and economic effects, the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a significant increase in psychological distress in individuals of all ages. Due to the unprecedented nature of this public health crisis, commonly used measures of anxiety and fear may not comprehensively capture COVID-19-related fears, worries, and experiences. The objective of this study was to describe the development of the Fear of Illness and Virus Evaluation (FIVE) scales and examine the measurement and psychometric properties of the parent-report version. Feedback received from anxiety clinicians and researchers provided support for the content and face validity of the FIVE items. The structural validity, internal consistency, and measurement invariance of the FIVE parent-report measure were analyzed using data from a multi-site, longitudinal study of COVID-19-related effects on child and parental mental health and family functioning and included 1,599 participants recruited across the United States and Canada. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) indicated a hierarchical five-factor structure best fit the data resulting in a 31-item measure consisting of four subscales: (1) Fears about Contamination and Illness; (2) Fears about Social Distancing; (3) Avoidance Behaviors; (4) Mitigation Behaviors, and a higher-order factor, Total Fears, consisting of the two fear subscales. All four subscales demonstrated strong internal consistency. Multigroup CFA results indicated measurement invariance by country of residence, child age, child gender, child race/ethnicity, and parent education. The development and validation of this measure fills a gap and provides the ability to measure COVID-19-related fears and behaviors in children and adolescents through a parent-report. Future research is needed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the child self-report version of the FIVE scales.