The perceived vulnerability to disease scale: Cross-cultural measurement invariance and associations with fear of COVID-19 across 16 countries
Karakulak, Arzu, Stogianni, Maria, Alonso-Arbiol, Itziar, Shukla, Shanu, Bender, Michael, Yeung, Victoria Wai Lan, Jovanović, Veljko, Musso, Pasquale, Scardigno, Rosa, Scott, Riley A. and Stuart, Jaimee, (2023). The perceived vulnerability to disease scale: Cross-cultural measurement invariance and associations with fear of COVID-19 across 16 countries. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(11), n/a-n/a
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Sub-type Journal article Author 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, JaimeeTitle The perceived vulnerability to disease scale: Cross-cultural measurement invariance and associations with fear of COVID-19 across 16 countries Appearing in Social and Personality Psychology Compass Volume 17 Issue No. 11 Publication Date 2023-11 Place of Publication Online Publisher Wiley Start page n/a End page n/a Language eng Abstract 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. Copyright Holder The Author(s) Copyright Year 2023 Copyright type Creative commons DOI 10.1111/spc3.12878 -
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