DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF COVID-19 VACCINE HESITANCY SCALE FOR GENERAL PAKISTANI POPULATION

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to develop and validate the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the resulting factors confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The sample of EFA comprised the general population (n = 311) in which male (n = 140) and female (n = 171) ages ranged from 18 to 60 years (M= 26.38 and SD =6. 79). Factor loading of .30 was set as selection criteria of an item in the scale. Using Varimax rotation method, EFA presented five meaningful factors for COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale and factors named as Belief in myths & conspiracy theories (14 items), Perceived effectiveness (10 items), Religiosity (4 items), Social and Media Influence (9 items), and Misinformation (5 items). For CFA sample of the general population (n = 300) in which male (n =150) and female (n =150) ages ranged from 18 to 60 years (M=24.56 and SD =4.95). Alpha reliability for the subscales of the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale was calculated, it was .95(Belief in myths &conspiracy theories), .92 (Perceivedeffectiveness), .61(Religiosity), .72(Social and Media Influence), .72(Misinformation). Overall COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale developed for the general population is a reliable and valid measure to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Pakistani culture.