Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): Development and Initial Validation

Abstract

Background: The present study presents a first psychometric analysis of the Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6) developed to complement clinical efforts in the prevention of hesitance against vaccines. Methods: The sample comprised 2175 Spanish participants. The items of the VFS-6 were developed from validated Fear Coronavirus Scale (FCV-19S), which has several psychometric tests to ascertain its reliability and validity properties. Several psychometric tests were conducted to ascertain its reliability and validity properties. Results: After panel review and corrected item-total correlation test, six items with acceptable corrected item-total correlation were retained and then confirmed by significant and strong factor loadings. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactorial model (cognitive and physical factors), with robust psychometric properties, good reliability and internal consistency. Our data indicate that fear of vaccination is much more consistently related to the intention to vaccinate than fear of the disease. Conclusion: The VFS-6 is valid and reliable to assess fear of vaccination among the Spanish population.