How to Assess Perceived Risks and Safety Behaviors Related to Pandemics; Developing the Pandemic Risk and Reaction Scale during the Covid-19 Outbreak

The aim of the present study was to develop a self-report questionnaire to assess the level of perceived risks and safety behaviors during pandemics.

We went through recommended phases and their corresponding steps to create a valid and reliable scale: (a) item development (including 1. domain identification and item generation, 2. content validity), (b) scale development (including 1. pretesting questions, 2. sampling and survey administration, 3. item reduction, and 4. extraction of factors), and (c) scale evaluation (including 1. tests of dimensionality, 2. tests of reliability, and 3. tests of validity).

We found four factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 that were accounted for 0.63 of the total variance. The 4-factor solution showed all items had factor loading greater than 0.4 and each belonged to one factor. The fit indices indicated the 4-factor solution model was fitted to our data.

In sum, the Pandemic Risk and Reaction Scale (PRRS) is a valid and reliable self-reported scale to assess the level of perceived risk and safety behaviors during pandemics.