Measuring COVID-19 as Traumatic Stress: Initial Psychometrics and Validation

The goal was to develop and validate a measure for COVID-19 as traumatic stress. The scale consisted of three dimensions: "threat/fear of infection and death," "economic hardship," and "disturbed routines/isolation." The measure was tested on a snowball sample of 1374 participants from seven countries online. Principal and confirmatory factor analysis conducted on separate subsamples randomly drawn from the sample proved its structural validity. Measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, cumulative traumas, and well-being were used to test its convergent, divergent, and predictive validity. Results validated the reliability, the structural, convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of the scale and its subscales.