TY - JOUR
T1 - Design and Cross-Cultural Invariance of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 13 Latin American Countries
AU - Caycho-Rodríguez, Tomás
AU - Valencia, Pablo D.
AU - Ventura-León, José
AU - Vilca, Lindsey W.
AU - Carbajal-León, Carlos
AU - Reyes-Bossio, Mario
AU - White, Michael
AU - Rojas-Jara, Claudio
AU - Polanco-Carrasco, Roberto
AU - Gallegos, Miguel
AU - Cervigni, Mauricio
AU - Martino, Pablo
AU - Palacios, Diego Alejandro
AU - Moreta-Herrera, Rodrigo
AU - Samaniego-Pinho, Antonio
AU - Lobos-Rivera, Marlon Elías
AU - Figares, Andrés Buschiazzo
AU - Puerta-Cortés, Diana Ximena
AU - Corrales-Reyes, Ibraín Enrique
AU - Calderón, Raymundo
AU - Tapia, Bismarck Pinto
AU - Arias Gallegos, Walter L.
AU - Petzold, Olimpia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Caycho-Rodríguez, Valencia, Ventura-León, Vilca, Carbajal-León, Reyes-Bossio, White, Rojas-Jara, Polanco-Carrasco, Gallegos, Cervigni, Martino, Palacios, Moreta-Herrera, Samaniego-Pinho, Lobos-Rivera, Figares, Puerta-Cortés, Corrales-Reyes, Calderón, Tapia, Arias Gallegos and Petzold.
PY - 2022/6/14
Y1 - 2022/6/14
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Latin America
KW - conspiracy beliefs
KW - invariance
KW - vaccines
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133282841&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpubh.2022.908720
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2022.908720
M3 - Original Article
C2 - 35774567
AN - SCOPUS:85133282841
SN - 2296-2565
VL - 10
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
JF - Frontiers in Public Health
M1 - 908720
ER -