Design and Cross-Cultural Invariance of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 13 Latin American Countries

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Diego Alejandro Palacios¹  Rodrigo Moreta-Herrera²  Antonio Samaniego-Pinho³  Marlon Elías Lobos-Rivera⁴  Andrés Buschiazzo Figares⁵  Diana Ximena Puerta-Cortés⁶  Ibraín Enrique Corrales-Reyes⁷  Raymundo Calderón⁸  Bismarck Pinto Tapia⁹  Walter L. Arias Gallegos^1,10  Tomás Caycho-Rodríguez^1,11  Pablo D. Valencia^1,12  José Ventura-León^1,11  Lindsey W. Vilca^1,13  Carlos Carbajal-León^1,11  Mario Reyes-Bossio^1,14  Michael White^1,15  Claudio Rojas-Jara^1,16  Roberto Polanco-Carrasco^1,17  Miguel Gallegos^1,16  Mauricio Cervigni^1,19  Pablo Martino^1,19  Olimpia Petzold^2,22 

[1] Centro de Desarrollo Humano, Universidad Mariano Gálvez;Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador;Carrera de Psicología, Facultad de Filosofía, Universidad Nacional de Asunción;Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador;Centro de Estudios Adlerianos, Instituto Alfred Adler Uruguay;Programa de Psicología, Universidad de Ibagué;Servicio de Cirugía Maxilofacial, Hospital General Universitario Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Granma;Carrera de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Valle de Mexico;Carrera de Psicología, Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo;Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Católica San Pablo;Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada del Norte;Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico;South American Center for Education and Research in Public Health, Universidad Norbert Wiener;Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas;Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Educación, Universidad Peruana Unión;Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica del Maule;Cuadernos de Neuropsicología;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicología, Pontificia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais;Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas;Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Rosario;Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud y del Comportamiento, Universidad Adventista del Plata;Lone Star College-Conroe Center;Psychosomatic and Psycho-Oncological Research Unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles

关键词: conspiracy beliefs;    COVID-19;    invariance;    Latin America;    vaccines;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2022.908720

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Aims Over the past 2 years, the vaccine conspiracy beliefs construct has been used in a number of different studies. These publications have assessed the determinants and outcomes of vaccine conspiracy beliefs using, in some cases, pooled data from different countries, and compared the results across these contexts. However, studies often do not consider measurement invariance as a necessary requirement for comparative analyses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the cross-cultural MI of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 12 Latin American countries. Methods Confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory analysis and alignment method were applied to test measurement invariance in a large number of groups. Results The COVID-VCBS showed robust psychometric properties and measurement invariance for both factor loadings and crosstabs. Also, a higher level of acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about vaccines is necessary to respond to higher response categories. Similarly, greater acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines was related to a lower intention to be vaccinated. Conclusion The results allow for improved understanding of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines in the countries assessed; furthermore, they provide researchers and practitioners with an invariant measure that they can use in cross-cultural studies in Latin America. However, further studies are needed to test invariance in other countries, with the goal of developing a truly international measure of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines.

【 授权许可】

CC BY