Validation study of the Korean version of the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS-7) and psychometric comparison of different rating scales

C Hyung Keun Park; Oli Ahmed; Nicholas Tze Ping Pang; Assis Kamu; Washington Allysson Dantas Silva; Seockhoon Chung

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.002

Validation study of the Korean version of the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS-7) and psychometric comparison of different rating scales

J Psychiatr Res. 2023 Oct 11:168:118-124. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.002. Online ahead of print.

Authors

C Hyung Keun Park¹, Oli Ahmed², Nicholas Tze Ping Pang³, Assis Kamu⁴, Washington Allysson Dantas Silva⁵, Seockhoon Chung⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro, 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul 05505, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychology, University of Chittagong, Chattogram 4331, Bangladesh; National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Av. Professor Aníbal Bettencourt, 9, 1600-189 Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro, 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul 05505, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39492236
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.002

Abstract

We aimed to explore the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS-7) among the general population and compare the psychometric properties of the CAS-7 with major rating scales for viral anxiety according to the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This anonymous online survey was conducted among the general population in South Korea during November 9-15, 2021, and 400 people participated. The survey form included demographic characteristics and rating scales, including the CAS-7, Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 items (SAVE-6), Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), and GAD-7. The single-factor structure of CAS-7 showed good fits for the model and convergent validity with other viral anxiety scales. When comparing psychometric properties, the CAS-7 and SAVE-6 scales were more sensitive than CAS, which was the most discriminating as well as the most difficult. CAS, FCV-19S, and GAD-7 provided more information and were more efficient than CAS-7 and SAVE-6. The Korean version of the CAS-7 is a valid and reliable rating scale for measuring viral anxiety. The viral anxiety rating scale can be applied depending on the objective of assessment in this pandemic.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Stress; Validation.