Development and Initial Validation of the Coronavirus Pandemic Anxiety Scale(GAD-19S)

The aim of this paper is reporting the development and validation of the Coronavirus Pandemic Anxiety Scale (GAD-19S), for assessing the COVID-19 related anxiety.

This is a methodological and psychometric study, we developed a 7-Item Generalized anxiety disorder of COVID-19 scale (GAD-19S) to measure symptoms of anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic to help identify people who might need mental health services. In developing the GAD-19S scale items, we considered a previous theory and research on anxiety symptoms and symptoms reported in Iran. The scale was validated in the Razavi Khorasan (N=500).

The CVR in this study for the total scale was 0.81 indicating a satisfactory result. Also, the CVI of for the scale was0.78 that the scale had good content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit for the seven-factor model. GAD-19S showed good internal consistency

 The results support the viability of GAD-19S as a tool to identify individuals experiencing COVID-19 related anxiety.