Is there evidence for factorial invariance of the COVID Stress Scales? an analysis of North American and cross-cultural populations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental health of more citizens globally than any previous modern viral outbreak. In response to the psychological challenges associated with COVID-19, the COVID Stress Scales (CSS) were developed to assess the presence and severity of COVID-related distress. The initial North American validation study of the CSS identified that the scale comprised five factors: danger and contamination fears, fear of socioeconomic consequences, xenophobia, checking and reassurance seeking, and traumatic stress symptoms. The CSS have since been validated across a multitude of international populations. However, findings support a five- and six-factor model. Methodological issues make interpreting most studies supporting a five-factor model challenging. The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate the factor structure of the CSS using data from North American samples, to assess for potential factorial invariance, and compare these results to cross-cultural findings. Multiple confirmatory factor analyses (mCFA) were conducted across 28 different groups (e.g., age, ethnicity/race, sex) from two large independent North American samples from 2020 (n = 6827) and 2021 (n = 5787), assessing the fit indices of the five-, six-, and alternative-factor model of the CSS. The current results provide evidence for factorial invariance of the six-factor model of the CSS across different North American demographics and highlight potential challenges in interpreting the results of studies that have supported a five-factor model of the CSS.

Examination of COVID stress syndrome facets and relations to substance misuse using profile analysis via multidimensional scaling (PAMS)

“…Using latent class analysis, they found that a substantial percentage of the sample fell in the most severe class of COVID stress syndrome severity; CSS scores were also associated with pre-existing mental health concerns and coping difficulties during the pandemic. Recent research also provides evidence of factorial invariance of the CSS across various demographic variables (Boehme et al, 2024). McKay and Asmundson (2020) suggested that facets of the COVID stress syndrome may readily perpetuate substance misuse as a maladaptive coping mechanism for pandemicrelated distress.…”