Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): Development and Initial Validation

Malas, Olga; Tolsá, María Dolores

doi:10.13129/2282-1619/mjcp-2972

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Fear of vaccination: The Fear of Vaccination Scale (VFS-6) [ 73 ] was used in its Italian-validated form, developed by Duradoni and colleagues [ 71 ]. The scale is composed of six items measured on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with scores ranging from 6 to 30.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long-COVID Experience Changed People’s Vaccine Hesitancy but Not Their Vaccination Fear

Duradoni

Gursesli

Materassi

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Starting in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible, worldwide, for millions of deaths and patients with long-COVID syndrome. In an attempt to stop the spread of the virus, the blanket administration of COVID-19 vaccines proved to be the most effective measure, yet the existence and availability of functional vaccines did not and, still, do not ensure the willingness and intent of people to be vaccinated. This study assessed the similarities and differences in vaccine fears and vaccine hesitancy through between clusters of subjects: people that were not infected with COVID-19, people that had COVID but did not develop long-lasting symptoms, and people that were infected with COVID and developed long-COVID syndrome. From the sample of 1111 Italian people, it was found that individuals who experienced mild symptoms showed higher vaccine hesitancy (confidence, complacency, and collective responsibility) than those who did not contract COVID-19. People affected by long-COVID showed a lower overall hesitancy than individuals who had COVID-19 without incurring long-lasting symptoms and, thus, essentially resembled people who had no experience of COVID-19 infection in terms of the vaccine hesitancy scores. Vaccine fear remained unchanged across all three of the examined clusters.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long-COVID Experience Changed People’s Vaccine Hesitancy but Not Their Vaccination Fear

Duradoni

Gursesli

Materassi

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Taking into account the experience followed by Hedén et al (2020), a single item is adapted to ask about the NF ("I do not want to be vaccinated because I am afraid of being pricked with the needle"), which in this case becomes valued using a Likert-type scale with five response options, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with scores ranging from 1 to 5. (VFS-6;Malas & Tolsá, 2021) It is a six-item scale rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with scores ranging from 6 to 30. Higher scores reflect higher levels of fear.…”

Section: Needle-related Fear (Nf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Needle-related Fear versus Vaccination Fear, Vaccination Intention, and Declared Reasons for Avoiding Vaccination

Malas

Tolsá

2022

Clínica Y Salud

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vaccinations are the best way to promote health by reducing morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. Nevertheless, the usual administration method, by needle puncture, can cause fear and generate a rejection or avoidance of vaccination.The recorded prevalence of needle-related fear (NF) is highly variable. This is due to the fact that, in general, studies have been carried out in population groups subjected to treatments that require needle administration, as is the case of patients with allergies (e.g.,

show abstract

“…Additionally, belief in conspiracy theories, distrust in medical information, and mistrust in medicine and science have been noted [4]. In any case, fear is identified as the most powerful predictor to date concerning vaccination intention [8], particularly regarding the fear of the vaccine's adverse effects [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FoCV-19S) developed by Ahorsu et al [23], was adapted and validated to assess fear of vaccination (6-items Vaccination Fear Scale: VFS-6) within a large Spanish sample by Malas and Tolsá [9]. Despite several attempts to adequately measure vaccination fear using unique or ad hoc items [3,13], only the VFS-6 [9] could represent the complexity of the vaccination fear construct in a valid and reliable manner by condensing the quite extensive literature related to vaccination fear [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, Ochnik et al [15] developed and validated the Coronavirus Vaccination Fear Scale (FoCVVS) concerning the German, Polish, Slovenian, and Hebrew languages, following the same methodology used by Malas and Tolsá [9] in creating the VFS-6. Despite both scales starting from the same methodology, there are certain differences between them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): Adaptation, Cross-Cultural Validation, and Invariance among Genders and Six Different Cultures, Applying Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT)

Malas,

Boustani,

Duradoni

et al. 2024

EJIHPE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a meaningful impact on several areas of human activity. With respect to psychological assessment, the requirements to study the fear of vaccination as a means to diminish negative behaviour towards vaccination had been reported. This study aimed to evaluate the factorial invariance of the six-item Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6) across individuals and cultures. To achieve this goal, a sample of university students was recruited (n = 2535; mean age = 20.59, SD = 2.04; males: 26.75%, females: 73.25%) from Spain (n = 388; 15.3%), Italy (n = 376; 14.83%), Lebanon (n = 487; 19.21%), Nigeria (n = 561; 22.13%), Turkey (n = 410; 16.17%), and Ukraine (n = 313; 12.34%). The results showed that the most appropriate factorial structure, exhibiting excellent fit indices, was a model with two correlated factors (cognitive symptoms: items 1, 2, and 4; somatic symptoms: items 3, 5, and 6) for both the total sample and individual samples from each country and language (Spanish, Italian, Arabic, English, Turkish, and Ukrainian). Notably, the VFS-6 demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance across sex. Regarding countries and languages, configural invariance was observed between them. Also, metric invariance was observed between Spain, Italy, and Ukraine and between Lebanon, Nigeria, and Turkey, which indicates the presence of two well-differentiated groups of countries and the possibility of inferential analysis between them. Item Response Theory analysis suggested an appropriate level of discrimination and difficulty of the test. These significant findings lay the groundwork for future investigations into vaccination fear across diverse cultural backgrounds, providing valuable insights for addressing vaccination-related concerns worldwide.

show abstract

Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): Development and Initial Validation

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

The Long-COVID Experience Changed People’s Vaccine Hesitancy but Not Their Vaccination Fear

The Long-COVID Experience Changed People’s Vaccine Hesitancy but Not Their Vaccination Fear

Needle-related Fear versus Vaccination Fear, Vaccination Intention, and Declared Reasons for Avoiding Vaccination

The Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): Adaptation, Cross-Cultural Validation, and Invariance among Genders and Six Different Cultures, Applying Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About