The Fear of COVID-19 Familial Infection Scale: Development and Initial Psychometric Examination

Abstract

The Fear of COVID-19 Familial Infection (FCFI) scale examines parents’ fear levels of infecting their families with COVID-19. Principle component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of parents (N = 582) revealed two factors: Fear of infecting others and Others’ Fear of being infected by me.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• fear
• stress
• parents
• healthcare workers

Disclosure Statements

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Dr. Yael Mayer is a clinical psychologist in Israel and a registered clinical counselor in Canada. Her research mainly focuses on multiculturalism, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in mental health services. Dr. Mayer holds a PhD in psychology from Tel Aviv University and is currently an honorary research associate at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Shir Etgar is a social psychologist, interested in psychometrics and advanced statistical methods. Her research mainly focuses on the ways new technologies and new media affect individuals’ social and cognitive processes. Dr. Etgar holds a PhD in social psychology from Tel Aviv University and is currently a visiting scholar at Columbia University.

Dr. Noga Shiffman is a psychiatry resident at the Rambam Health Care Campus, and also holds a BSc in Neuroscience from the Bar Ilan University. Dr. Shiffman’s research focuses mainly on women’s psychological outcomes and well-being. She is also an activist for women’s health and feminist medicine.

Dr. Ido Lurie is a psychiatrist, the director of the adult outpatient clinic, Shalvata Mental Health Center, Clalit Health Service Fund, and the chairperson of the Israeli Community Mental Health Society of the Israeli Medical Association. Dr. Lurie is a senior lecturer in the psychiatry department, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University (TAU), and an adjunct lecturer in the School of Social Work and in the School of Public Health, School of Medicine, TAU. His main areas of research are psychiatric epidemiology and social psychiatry, immigration (work migrants, asylum seekers and refuges, human trafficking), trauma, and socio-economic inequality.