Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire: psychometric validation with a Portuguese sample

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Health Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Individual differences in perceived vulnerability to disease influence psychological distress and avoidance behaviors.
• The Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire (PVD) is a widely used measure for assessing disease vulnerability.
• The PVD was not previously available for the Portuguese population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt and validate the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire (PVD) for use with the Portuguese population.
• To ensure the adapted PVD is a reliable and valid measure for assessing perceived vulnerability to infectious diseases.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation and validation of the PVD with 136 Portuguese participants.
• Assessment of factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity.
• Reliability analysis, including internal consistencies.

Main Results:

• A modified bifactorial model was established, including Perceived Infectability and Germ Aversion factors.
• The model demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit indices.
• Adequate convergent and discriminant validity, along with good internal consistencies, were confirmed.

Conclusions:

• The 10-item European-Portuguese PVD is a reliable and valid measure of perceived disease vulnerability.
• This validated tool has potential applications in research and clinical practice.
• The measure is relevant for studying disease-avoidance processes and related psychological distress.