Testing a coping scale in Mexican families in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring the psychometric properties

Abstract

Introduction. The rapid spread of the pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, more commonly known as COVID-19, required sanitary measures, such as social distancing and quarantining, which represented non-normative stressors for Mexican families. Objective. Obtaining evidence of the validity and reliability of a family coping scale in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method. A questionnaire was developed containing 48 items, and responses were collected using Google forms with a total of 558 participants. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to obtain the reliability and validity of the scale. Results. The instrument is made up of six factors that explain 67.27% of the variance. The scale had a McDonald’s omega coefficient of .82, and the model had a good fit with most values equal to or higher than .90. Discussion and conclusions. The final items showed proper theoretical congruence and good indicators of fit. These results allow for the assertion that factors 1, 2, 5, and 6 allude to a good family adaptation in the face of the pandemic. Meanwhile, factors 3 and 4 indicate a poor family adaptation. Among the main contributions of this study is that this is one of the first scales to address the subject in Mexico, followed by statistical data that suggests the scale possesses appropriate psychometric properties to be used in the Mexican population.