(Don't fear) the factors: An item-level meta-analysis of the fear of COVID-19 Scale's factor structure and measurement invariance.

The global COVID-19 pandemic saw marked research and clinical interest in evaluating pandemic-related distress, namely fear and anxiety regarding infection and death. The most widely used and earliest developed measure of COVID-19 distress is Ahorsu et al. (2022) seven-item Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S).