Psychometric Evaluation of the Italian Version of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale

Introduction: The present study adapted the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (VCBS) developed by Shapiro and colleagues (2016) in the specific context of COVID-19 and examined the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the scale (VCBS-COVID19/Ita). Methods: We modified the 7 items of the VCBS to address conspiracy beliefs specifically regarding COVID-19 vaccines and translated them into Italian. We collected the data from a group of 1,179 subjects (73% female). We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the dimensional structure of the VCBS-COVID19/Ita and multigroup CFA (MG CFA) to evaluate the measurement invariance across gender. Results: We found support for a one-factor solution for the VCBS-COVID19/Ita. The one-factor model was factorially invariant across gender. Additionally, we determined the VCBS-COVID19/Ita scores to be associated with COVID-VAX dimensions, providing support for the convergent and divergent validity of the Italian version of the VCBS-COVID19. Discussion: Our results provide evidence that the Italian version of the VCBS-COVID19 is reliable, valid, and, thus, potentially useful for research on COVID-19. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.