{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]],"date-time":"2025-05-31T07:42:44Z","timestamp":1748677364154,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,2]],"date-time":"2023-02-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1675296000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID Stress Scales (CSS) are a new self-report instrument for multidimensional assessment of psychological stress in the context of the pandemic. The CSS have now been translated and validated in over 20 languages, but a validated German version has not yet been available. Therefore, the aim was to develop a German version of the CSS, to test its factor structure, reliability, and validity, and to compare it with international studies. In an online survey (08\/2020\u201306\/2021),<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>= 1774 individuals from the German general population (71.5% female; M<jats:sub><jats:italic>age<\/jats:italic><\/jats:sub>= 41.2 years, SD = 14.2) completed the CSS as well as questionnaires on related constructs and psychopathology. After eight weeks, participants were asked to participate again for the purpose of calculating retest reliability (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>= 806). For the German version, the 6-factor structure with good model fit (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, RMSEA = 0.06) was confirmed, with the six subscales: Danger, Socio-Economic Consequences, Xenophobia, Contamination, Traumatic Stress, and Compulsive Checking. Internal consistencies ranged from \u03c9 = .82\u2013.94 (except Compulsive Checking \u03c9 = .70), and retest reliability from r<jats:sub>tt<\/jats:sub>= .62\u2013.82. Convergent and discriminant validity were confirmed for the German version. Related constructs such as health anxiety, general xenophobia, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms correlated moderately with the respective subscale and lower with the other scales. With anxiety and depression, Traumatic Stress showed the strongest correlation. Overall, there was a high degree of agreement in an international comparison. The CSS can help to identify pandemic-related psychological stress and to derive appropriate interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0279319","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,2]],"date-time":"2023-02-02T19:21:07Z","timestamp":1675365667000},"page":"e0279319","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["COVID-19 stress syndrome in the German general population: Validation of a German version of the COVID Stress Scales"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0201-9517","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stefanie M.","family":"Jungmann","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martina","family":"Piefke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vincent","family":"Nin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gordon J. G.","family":"Asmundson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4928-4222","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michael","family":"Witth\u00f6ft","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0279319.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.4103\/shb.shb_24_21","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19-related fear and anxiety on job attributes: A systematic review.","volume":"4","author":"N Rajabimajd","year":"2021","journal-title":"Asian J Soc Health Behav."},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.4103\/shb.shb_32_21","article-title":"The psychological impact of COVID-19 on health-care workers in African Countries: A systematic review.","volume":"4","author":"A Olashore","year":"2021","journal-title":"Asian J Soc Health Behav"},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.4103\/shb.shb_68_21","article-title":"Assessment of the anxiety level and trust in information resources among iranian health-care workers during the pandemic of coronavirus disease.","volume":"4","author":"E Hasannia","year":"2021","journal-title":"Asian J Soc Health Behav"},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1556\/2006.2022.00002","article-title":"Compulsive buying gradually increased during the first six months of the Covid-19 outbreak.","volume":"11","author":"A Maraz","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Behav Addict"},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sleep.2021.07.035","article-title":"Insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international collaborative study.","volume":"87","author":"CM Morin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sleep Med"},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100916","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2021.100916","article-title":"Sleep problems during COVID-19 pandemic and its\u2019 association to psychological distress: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"36","author":"Z Alimoradi","year":"2021","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine."},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpsychires.2020.07.024","article-title":"Anxiety and hopelessness levels in COVID-19 pandemic: A comparative study of healthcare professionals and other community sample in Turkey","volume":"129","author":"Y Hacimusalar","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Psychiatr Res"},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.06.029","article-title":"An investigation of mental health status of children and adolescents in china during the outbreak of COVID-19","volume":"275","author":"L Duan","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Affect Disord"},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2423","DOI":"10.1007\/s11469-020-00337-6","article-title":"Coronavirus Stress, Optimism-Pessimism, Psychological Inflexibility, and Psychological Health: Psychometric Properties of the Coronavirus Stress Measure.","volume":"19","author":"G Arslan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Ment Health Addict."},{"key":"pone.0279319.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.4103\/shb.shb_110_22","article-title":"Mental stress and well-being among low-income older adults during COVID-19 pandemic.","volume":"5","author":"P. 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