A Turkish-Language Validation and Reliability Study of the Storm Fear Questionnaire (SFQ)

Year 2024, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 474 - 482, 31.05.2024

Büşra Parlak Somuncu , İrem Dilaver , Serdar Karakullukçu , Nazım Ercüment Beyhun , Murat Topbaş

https://doi.org/10.30621/jbachs.1410610

Abstract

A Turkish-Language Validation and Reliability Study of the Storm Fear Questionnaire (SFQ)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish-language version of the Storm Fear Questionnaire (SFQ).

Material and Methods: The research was completed with 299 individuals. After obtaining sociodemographic information of the participants, Storm Fear Questionnaire, Eco-Anxiety Scale and Severity Measure for Specific Phobia were administered. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to evaluate the scale’s construct validity, while Cronbach's alpha (α) reliability coefficient was used to determine its consistency, and test-retest reliability was employed to determine its stability.

Results: Scores from the SFQ scale ranged from 0 to 56, with a mean score of 13.30±11.40. A structure consisting of a single factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1, explaining 59.0% of the total variance emerged from the factor analysis. Factor loadings for the SFQ, the original of which consists of 15 items, ranged between 0.594 and 0.879. One item with a factor loading less than 0.30 was removed from the scale. The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the first test was 0.943.

Conclusion: We think that the 14-item scale obtained in this research can be employed as a valid and reliable tool for evaluating storm fear in adults in Türkiye.

Keywords

Phobias, fear, wind, extreme weather, factor analysis

References

• Pan American Health Organization. Storms. [Accessed date: 20 November 2023]. Available form: https://www.paho.org/en/topics/storms
• NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory. Thunderstorm basics. [Accessed date: 20 October 2023]. Available form: https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/thunderstorms/
• Pörtner HO, Roberts DC, Tignor M, et al. IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2022.
• Parks RM, Benavides J, Anderson GB, et al. Association of tropical cyclones with county-level mortality in the US. JAMA. 2022;327(10):946–955.
• T.C. Çevre, Şehircilik ve İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü. 2022 yılı iklim değerlendirmesi. Ankara; 2023.
• Türkeş M. Türkiye’de hortumlar artıyor mu?. EKOIQ. 2021:97-101.
• Türkeş M, Şahin S. Türkiye’nin fırtına afeti etkilenebilirliği ve risk çözümlemesi. Kebikeç İnsan Bilim İcin Kaynak Arastirmaları Dergisi. 2018;46(46):219–246.
• World Meteorological Organization. Weather-related disasters increase over past 50 years, causing more damage but fewer deaths. [Accessed date: 2 October 2023]. Available form: https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/weather-related-disasters-increase-over-past-50-years-causing-more-damage-fewer
• American Psychological Association Task Force on the Interface between Psychology and Global Climate Change. Psychology and global climate change: Addressing a multi-faceted phenomenon and set of challenges; 2009.
• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
• Stinson FS, Dawson DA, Chou SP, et al. The epidemiology of DSM-IV specific phobia in the USA: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Psychological Medicine. 2007;37(7):1047-1059.
• Westefeld JS. Severe weather phobia: An exploratory study. J Clin Psychol. 1996;52(5):509–515.
• Türk Psikiyatri Derneği. Özgül fobiler. [Accessed date: 9 October 2023]. Available form: https://psikiyatri.org.tr/halka-yonelik/30/ozgul-fobiler
• Nelson AL, Vorstenbosch V, Antony MM. Assessing fear of storms and severe weather: Validation of the Storm Fear Questionnaire (SFQ). J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2014;36:105–114.
• Sousa VD, Rojjanasrirat W. Translation, adaptation and validation of instruments or scales for use in cross-cultural health care research: A clear and user-friendly guideline. J Eval Clin Pract. 2011;17(2):268–274.
• Hogg TL, Stanley SK, O’Brien L V., Wilson MS, Watsford CR. The Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale: Development and validation of a multidimensional scale. Glob Environ Chang. 2021;71:102391.
• Uzun K, Öztürk AF, Karaman M, et al. Adaptation of the Eco-Anxiety Scale to Turkish: A validity and reliability study. Arch Heal Sci Res. 2022;9(2):110–115.
• Öztekin S, Aydin O, Aydemir Ö, et al. DSM-5 Özgül Fobi Şiddet Ölçeği Türkçe Formunun geçerliliği ve güvenilirliği. Anadolu Psikiyatr Derg. 2017;18(2):31–37.
• Messick S. Test validity and the ethics of assessment. Am Psychol. 1980;35(11):1012–1027.
• Shrestha N. Factor Analysis as a Tool for Survey Analysis. Am J Appl Math Stat. 2021;9(1):4–11.
• Stevens, J. P. Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. 4th ed. New York: Psychology Press. 2002.
• Şimşek ÖF. Yapısal eşitlik modellemesine giriş, temel ilkeler ve LİSREL uygulamaları. Ankara: Ekinoks; 2007. p.4-22.
• Schumacker RE, Lomax RG. A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge; 2010. p.85-90.
• Bland JM, Altman DG. Statistics notes: Cronbach’s alpha. BMJ. 1997;314:572.
• Nunnally, J. C. Psychometric theory. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1978.
• Portney, L.G., & Watkins, M.P. Foundations of clinical research: Applications to practice. 3rd ed. Toronto: Prentice Hall; 2009.
• Munro BH. Statistical methods for health care research. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005. p.351-376.
• Schreiber JB, Nora A, Stage FK, Barlow EA, King J. Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research 2006; 99(6): 323-338.
• Hooper D, Coughlan J, Mullen MR. Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods 2008; 6(1): 53-60.
• Schumacker RE, Lomax RG. A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Taylor & Francis; 2004. p.1-8.
• Wang J, Wang X. Structural equation modeling: Applications using Mplus: methods and applications. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons; 2012. p.5-9.