COVID-19 Phobia in the United States: Validation of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-SE)

This study validated the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-SE) based on data collected from 227 adults in the United States. Results indicated that the C19P-SE has adequate reliability (alpha = .93) along with factorial, discriminant, and convergent validity. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the four-factor structure of the C19P-SE. Concurrent validity results indicate a significant positive correlation between coronaphobia and state anxiety (r = .67, p < .001), suggesting that individuals with higher levels of coronaphobia may also have higher levels of state anxiety or vice versa. Further, we found a multivariate difference in coronaphobia between men and women.