Adjusting to the New Normal of COVID-19 Survey

The Adjusting to the New Normal of COVID-19 Survey

Description

The Adjusting to the New Normal of COVID-19 Survey is an inventory/questionnaire designed to assess how individuals in Ghana are adapting their lives to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, termed the “new normal.” The developers define the “new normal” as the assumption that the pandemic has significantly altered daily life for many people. This scale was developed as part of a larger battery of assessments, initially comprising 25 items to capture various aspects of individuals’ lives affected by COVID-19. Data for its development were collected from adults in Ghana.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this measure is to assess Ghanaian adults’ behavioral adjustment to COVID-19.

Validity

No data is Available

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The reliability of the scale was assessed using internal consistency measures. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the “Outdoor activities” component were .88, and for the “Personal development/family-oriented activities” component, they were .91.

Factor Analysis

Principal Component Analysis: An initial Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed four components with eigenvalues greater than 1, accounting for 46.40%, 8.30%, 5.27%, and 4.29% of the variance, respectively. However, a scree plot indicated a clear break after the second component. Further parallel analysis, based on 1000 replicated simulations of a randomly generated data matrix, also supported a two-component structure, as their eigenvalues exceeded the corresponding criterion values. Following oblimin rotation, the solution clearly showed two distinct structures. Component 1 had strong loadings from 15 items, while Component 2 had strong loadings from 10 items. Two items (items 5 and 7) were removed from the scale due to significant cross-loading on both components. The final 23-item measure explained 54.70% of the variance.

Instrument

• Test Type: Original

• Format: The 23 items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (“hardly any change”) to 5 (“changed very much”).

• Language Available: English

• Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

• Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), Middle Age (40-64 years), and Aged (65 years and older).

• Population Details: The study population was located in Ghana.

• Test Methodology: The instrument’s development involved Test Reliability, Internal Consistency analysis, Factor Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis.

Keywords

Behavioral Adjustment, COVID-19 Pandemic, New Normal, Outdoor Activities, Personal Development/Family-Oriented Activities, Health Behavior, Pandemics, Behavioral Measures, Health Behavior Measures, Preventive Health Behavior.

Authors

• Kekesi, Elias Kodjo

  • Author ORCID Identifier: orcid.org/0000-0002-5301-249X

  • Affiliation: University of Ghana, Department of Psychology

  • Email addresses: [email protected]

  • Correspondence Address: University of Ghana, Department of Psychology, P.O Box LG 84, Legon-Accra, Ghana.

• Agyemang, Collins Badu

  • Affiliation: University of Ghana, Department of Psychology

• Sam, David Lackland

  • Affiliation: University of Bergen, Department of Psychosocial Science

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

References

Kekesi, E. K., Agyemang, C. B., & Sam, D. L. (2023). Assessing levels of knowledge, compliance with preventive measures and behavioral adjustments to the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19: Empirical evidence from Ghana. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 5, Article 100168. doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100168

Items of the Adjusting to the New Normal of COVID-19 Survey

No data is Available