Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the COVID Stress Scales in Greek

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, several instruments were developed to measure the psychological impact of COVID-19, such as fear, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, phobia, etc. ObjectiveTo adapt cross-cultural and validate the "COVID Stress Scales" in Greek. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study with 200 participants between November 2021 to February 2022. All participants were adults, and a convenience sample was obtained. We applied the forward-backward translation method to create a Greek version of the "COVID Stress Scales". We assessed reliability of the questionnaire with test-retest method in a 10-day window, and we assessed validity of the questionnaire with exploratory factor analysis. ResultsOur five-factor model explained 72% of the variance and totally confirmed the factors of the initial "COVID Stress Scales". In particular, we found the following five factors: (a) COVID-19 danger and contamination (eleven items), (b) COVID-19 socioeconomic consequences (six items), (c) COVID-19 xenophobia (six items), (d) COVID-19 traumatic stress (six items), and (e) COVID-19 compulsive checking (six items). Cronbachs coefficients alpha for the five factors that emerged from the exploratory factor analysis were greater than 0.89 indicating excellent internal reliability. ConclusionsWe found that the "COVID Stress Scales" is a reliable and valid tool to measure stress due to the COVID-19 in the Greek population.