Abstract
Mental health concerns of people impacted by the coronavirus pandemic have not been adequately addressed. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate the properties of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), which is a brief mental health screener to identify probable cases of dysfunctional anxiety associated with the COVID-19 crisis. This 5-item scale, which was based on 775 adults with anxiety over the coronavirus, demonstrated solid reliability and validity. Elevated CAS scores were found to be associated with coronavirus diagnosis, impairment, alcohol/drug coping, negative religious coping, extreme hopelessness, suicidal ideation, as well as attitudes toward President Trump and Chinese products. The CAS discriminates well between persons with and without dysfunctional anxiety using an optimized cut score of ≥ 9 (90% sensitivity and 85% specificity). These results support the CAS as an efficient and valid tool for clinical research and practice.
Keywords
AnxietyMental healthClinical psychologyDysfunctional familyPsychiatryCoping (psychology)PsychologySuicidal ideationAnxiety sensitivityCoronavirusPandemicCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)MedicinePoison controlSuicide preventionDiseaseMedical emergencyInfectious disease (medical specialty)
MeSH Terms
AdaptationPsychologicalAdultAnxietyBetacoronavirusCOVID-19CoronavirusCoronavirus InfectionsFemaleHumansMaleMental HealthPandemicsPneumoniaViralReproducibility of ResultsSARS-CoV-2StressPsychologicalSurveys and Questionnaires
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Publication Info
- Year
- 2020
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 393-401
- Citations
- 1642
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Sherman A. Lee
(2020).
Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety.
Death Studies
, 44
(7)
, 393-401.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481
- PMID
- 32299304