A psychometric network perspective of a brief measure of fear of monkeypox

Mpox symptoms and strategies implemented to control its spread may be associated with fear, anxiety, anger, boredom, exhaustion, social isolation, and stigma. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Monkeypox Fear Scale (MFS) in 421 Peruvian adults from the Piura region, based on a psychometric network model. Additionally, this study assessed the centrality, stability, and accuracy of the symptom network associated with fear of Mpox. The participants were selected through non-probability sampling, with a mean age of 26.4 years (SD = 9.3), and the majority were women (238, 56.5%). The psychometric network analysis methodology was used to assess the internal structure and reliability. Those items 1, 3, and 7 were removed because of their high redundancy levels. Network estimation was conducted using the remaining four items (4, 6, 5, and 2), forming a new version of the MFS (MFS-4) that demonstrated a single network structure (unidimensional measure), as identified through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, estimated via structural consistency, confirmed that the single network structure was replicated in 100% of cases, and the items demonstrated stability. Furthermore, the network structure of MFS-4 functioned similarly across male and female groups. Additionally, the symptom ‘When I see news and stories about monkeypox on social media, I feel nervous or anxious’ was identified as the most central and showed the strongest relationship with the symptom ‘I am afraid of losing my life due to monkeypox’. In conclusion these findings provide a rapid, valid, and reliable measure that lays the foundation for future research on fear of Mpox and other infectious diseases in Peru.