Background As the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic is prolonged, psychological responses to the pandemic have changed, and a new scale to reflect these changes needs to be developed. In this study, we attempt to develop and validate the COVID-19 Impact Scale (CIS) to measure the psychological stress responses of the COVID-19 pandemic, including emotional responses and difficulty with activities of daily living. Methods We recruited 2152 participants. Participants completed the CIS, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), and other mental health related measures. The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the CIS were analyzed. In addition, the validity of the scale was confirmed by its relationships to the existing measures assessing fear of COVID-19, depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, and suicidal ideation. Results Using exploratory factor analysis (N1 = 1076), we derived a one-factor structure. In confirmatory factor analysis (N2 = 1076), the one-factor model showed good to excellent fitness. The CIS was positively correlated with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, fear of COVID-19 and negatively correlated with subjective well-being. The FCV-19S did not show significant correlations with subjective well-being or suicidal ideation, and FCV-19S’s explanatory powers on depression and anxiety were lower than those of the CIS. Conclusions These results support that the CIS is a valid assessment of emotional problems and deterioration of the quality of life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the limitations of this study and future research directions are discussed.

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