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Volume 7
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Article

Three Faces of Pandemic-Related Fear: Psychometrics of Physiological, Cognitive, and Behavioral Measures of Coronaphobia in the Cypriot Population

by
Maria Bakola
1,†,
Konstantina Soultana Kitsou
1,†,
Varvara Angelidou
2,
Argyris Giannakopoulos
3,
Maria Drakopoulou
1,
Konstantinos Argyropoulos
1,
Constantinos Petropoulos
4,
George Charalambous
2,
Philippos Gourzis
5 and
Eleni Jelastopulu
1,*
1
Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Quality of Life, School of Medicine, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece
2
Postgraduate Program Health Management, Frederick University, Nicosia 1036, Cyprus
3
Department of Mathematics, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece
4
Division of Statistics, Probability and Operational Research, Department of Mathematics, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece
5
Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Psychiatry Int. 2026, 7(3), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint7030112
Submission received: 14 June 2025 / Revised: 31 January 2026 / Accepted: 27 April 2026 / Published: 12 May 2026
Versions Notes

Abstract

Coronavirus anxiety is defined as a psychological contrast characterized by excessive fear, obsessive thoughts, and reassurance-seeking behaviors associated with COVID-19. As current scales have been tested primarily in North American populations, we aimed to translate and culturally adapt three measures of dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety—the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS), and the Coronavirus Reassurance-Seeking Behaviors Scale (CRBS)—for the first time in Greek-speaking populations. To translate existing scales, we followed best practices for cross-cultural comparisons using forward translation (English to Greek) and backward translation (Greek to English) with expert translation review, prior to conducting pilot testing and confirmatory factor analysis in a bespoke survey population. A total of 405 adults from Cyprus participated in this study. The results indicated that the Greek versions of these measures demonstrated adequate reliability (Cronbach’s alphas > 0.70) and strong factor structure, as supported through confirmatory factor analysis. However, only the CAS exhibited evidence of both convergent and divergent validity. Our study makes several innovative contributions which have broad implications for crisis preparedness, including providing a framework for mental health interventions in future pandemics or Black Swan events.
Keywords: anxiety; obsession with COVID-19; reassurance-seeking behaviors; coronavirus; psychometric validity; reliability anxiety; obsession with COVID-19; reassurance-seeking behaviors; coronavirus; psychometric validity; reliability

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Bakola, M.; Kitsou, K.S.; Angelidou, V.; Giannakopoulos, A.; Drakopoulou, M.; Argyropoulos, K.; Petropoulos, C.; Charalambous, G.; Gourzis, P.; Jelastopulu, E. Three Faces of Pandemic-Related Fear: Psychometrics of Physiological, Cognitive, and Behavioral Measures of Coronaphobia in the Cypriot Population. Psychiatry Int. 2026, 7, 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint7030112

AMA Style

Bakola M, Kitsou KS, Angelidou V, Giannakopoulos A, Drakopoulou M, Argyropoulos K, Petropoulos C, Charalambous G, Gourzis P, Jelastopulu E. Three Faces of Pandemic-Related Fear: Psychometrics of Physiological, Cognitive, and Behavioral Measures of Coronaphobia in the Cypriot Population. Psychiatry International. 2026; 7(3):112. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint7030112

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bakola, Maria, Konstantina Soultana Kitsou, Varvara Angelidou, Argyris Giannakopoulos, Maria Drakopoulou, Konstantinos Argyropoulos, Constantinos Petropoulos, George Charalambous, Philippos Gourzis, and Eleni Jelastopulu. 2026. "Three Faces of Pandemic-Related Fear: Psychometrics of Physiological, Cognitive, and Behavioral Measures of Coronaphobia in the Cypriot Population" Psychiatry International 7, no. 3: 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint7030112

APA Style

Bakola, M., Kitsou, K. S., Angelidou, V., Giannakopoulos, A., Drakopoulou, M., Argyropoulos, K., Petropoulos, C., Charalambous, G., Gourzis, P., & Jelastopulu, E. (2026). Three Faces of Pandemic-Related Fear: Psychometrics of Physiological, Cognitive, and Behavioral Measures of Coronaphobia in the Cypriot Population. Psychiatry International, 7(3), 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint7030112

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