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, Jaimee
    Title 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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    Created: Fri, 30 Aug 2024, 17:41:38 JST by Qian Dai on behalf of UNU CS