Depressive symptoms mediate COVID-associated stigma and quality of life: Stigma instrument validation and path analysis

•The 29-item COVID-19 Stigma Instrument-Patient with six domains is an instrument with sound psychometric properties that can be used to measure COVID-19 stigma during the COVID-19 outbreak and later, for COVID-19 survivors follow-ups.•COVID-19 survivors' age, comorbid diseases, education levels, and loneliness level were the factors influencing survivors' COVID-19 stigma.•COVID-19 stigma effect on QOL was significant for direct and indirect paths mediated by depressive symptomology. The aim of this study was to adapt and modify the HIV/AIDS Stigma Instrument-Patient to develop the COVID-19 Stigma Instrument-Patient (CSI-P) and validate its psychometric characteristics, as well as explore how affected individuals in China experienced COVID-related stigma and its associated variables, including depressive symptomology and quality of life (QOL). From September to October 2020, 151 COVID-19 survivors recruited in Shanghai, China, completed a set of measures of demographic characteristics, depression, stigma, and QOL. The 15-item CSI-P-2 achieved a Cronbach's α of 0.67 to 0.91. The six-factor structure was obtained by exploratory factor analysis. The mean score for the CSI-P-2 in Chinese COVID survivors was 8.14 ± 9.98. Regression analysis showed that survivors' age, comorbid diseases, education levels, and loneliness level were the factors influencing their COVID-19 stigma, explaining 37.80% of the total variance (F = 19.25, p