COVID-19 Regulations Measure

Abstract

The COVID-19 Regulations Measure (CRM), developed by Hughes et al. (2023), is a brief, five-item instrument designed to assess parental perceptions of their young children’s (aged 3–8 years) affective responses and cognitive comprehension of public health measures enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The instrument relies exclusively on parent reports and was utilized in a large-scale, multi-site international study. Initially created in English, the scale was subsequently translated into Chinese, Italian, and Swedish to facilitate cross-cultural research. Initial findings included reports of internal reliability, though the study acknowledged a significant limitation concerning the non-representative nature of the collected sample.

Keywords

Children, COVID-19 Regulations, Negative Emotions, Parent Report, Child Understanding, Health Attitude Measures, Prosocial Behavior.

Authors

Hughes, Claire, Ronchi, Luca, Heng, Jean, Basile, Chiara, Del Sette, Paola, Lecce, Serena, the i-FAM COVID-19 Consortium.

Purpose

The specific goal of the COVID-19 Regulations Measure is to provide quantitative data, gathered via parent report, on how children aged 3 to 8 years cognitively process and emotionally respond to public health mandates, such as social distancing and school closures, implemented during the pandemic.

This measure serves as a crucial tool for researchers investigating the psychosocial impact of large-scale health crises on young children, particularly focusing on compliance and emotional regulation regarding new societal rules.

Construct

The CRM is designed to capture two primary psychological constructs related to pandemic response in early childhood. The first construct is Child Understanding, which assesses the extent to which a child comprehends and remembers specific behavioral guidelines (e.g., hand washing, social distancing) related to COVID-19 regulations.

The second construct is Negative Feelings, which measures the emotional burden or resistance experienced by the child in relation to these rules, focusing specifically on reported levels of anxiety or opposition toward the mandated changes in daily life.

Validity

Currently, explicit data regarding the validity (e.g., content, criterion, or construct validity) of the COVID-19 Regulations Measure are not available in the initial documentation provided by the authors. Further psychometric investigation is required to establish the structural and external validity of the instrument.

Reliability

Reliability was assessed using Internal Consistency measures (Cronbach’s Alpha) across the multi-site international sample. The results varied slightly depending on the subscale and the country of administration.

For the Understanding subscale, internal consistency values were moderate, ranging from α = .66 (in the Italian sample) to α = .75 (in the Chinese sample). The Negative Feelings subscale demonstrated slightly higher internal consistency, ranging from α = .75 (US sample) to α = .80 (Chinese sample). These values generally indicate acceptable to good internal reliability across different cultural contexts for this brief, five-item measure.

Factor Analysis

Data concerning the underlying factor structure of the scale, typically assessed through Exploratory or Confirmatory Factor Analysis, were not reported in the initial study. Therefore, the empirical dimensionality of the Understanding and Negative Feelings subscales remains unconfirmed based on the provided literature.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire

Format: The measure employs a brief format consisting of five items, divided into two subscales: Negative Feelings and Understanding. For the Negative Feelings subscale, a 3-point scale is used to assess the child’s anxiety or resistance (1 = never anxious or resistant, 2 = sometimes anxious or resistant, 3 = often anxious or resistant). For the Understanding subscale, parents rate the frequency of needing to remind the child of regulations (1 = often needs reminding, 2 = sometimes needs reminding, 3 = never needs reminding). Higher scores on the Understanding scale denote higher comprehension. Notably, the Swedish sample utilized a 4-point scale, adding the option “4 = not applicable” due to differences in national lockdown policies.

Language Available: Chinese, English, Italian, Spanish. The original language of development was English.

Population Group: Human (Adult respondents reporting on children); Male; Female.

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older) (This refers to the minimum age of the parent/caregiver completing the report).

Population Details: Respondents were parents of children aged 3–8 years old, drawn from multiple countries including Australia, China, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Test Methodology: Test Reliability, Internal Consistency.

Keywords

Child Development, Psychometrics, Cross-Cultural Research, Parental Stress, Public Health Compliance.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Heng, Jean: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8083-0930

Affiliation Email addresses: Ronchi, Luca: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Ronchi, Luca: University of Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, P.zza Botta 6, Pavia, Italy, 27100, [email protected]

• Hughes, Claire: University of Cambridge, Centre for Family Research

• Ronchi, Luca: University of Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences

• Heng, Jean: University of Cambridge, Centre for Family Research

• Basile, Chiara: University of Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences

• Del Sette, Paola: University of Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences

• Lecce, Serena: University of Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences

• the i-FAM COVID-19 Consortium

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

This instrument was developed in 2023. It is authorized for use in non-commercial settings, specifically for Research and Teaching purposes. No fee is required for its utilization, provided the use adheres strictly to non-commercial guidelines.

Reference’s

Hughes, C., Ronchi, L., Heng, J., Basile, C., Del Sette, P., Lecce, S., & the i-FAM COVID-19 Consortium. (2023). What mediates the effect of family disruption in the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s prosocial behavior: A multisite study. Social Psychology, 54(1-2), 52–65. DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000485

Items of the COVID-19 Regulations Measure

The scale consists of 5 items.

Subscales: Understanding; Negative feelings.

How well does your child understand and feel about rules/situations regarding . . .

1. washing hands often and for 20 s.

2. keeping 2 m apart.

3. staying at home.

4. school closure.

5. no visits from friends/family.

Note. Each item is rated from 1=never anxious or resistant to 3=often anxious or resistant and from 1=often needs reminding to 3=never needs reminding for Feelings and Understanding, respectively.