Adaptation of the Social Distancing Scale in the Covid-19 Era: Its Association with Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Resilience in Turkey

Abstract

This study has two main objectives. The first aim is to adapt the social distancing scale (SDS) into Turkish. The second aim is to test the mediating roles of depression, anxiety, and stress on the relationship between social distance and psychological resilience. The sampling method of the study was revised as the snowball sampling. The study surveyed 843 people (481 female and 362 male) between the ages of 18 and 70 (average age 31.95) living in 51 different cities if Turkey. In the study, back-translation method was used to prepare the SDS-Turkish version. Confirmatory factor analysis results for the study showed that the single-dimension structure fits very well, as in the original form. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for the scale was calculated as 0.70. In line with the second aim of the study, the data were tested using a structural equation model analysis. Research results showed that depression, anxiety, and stress have a full mediator role in the relationship between social distancing and resilience for Turkish residents. In other words, this study eliminates social distancing's predictability of resilience by the insertion of the mediatory variable of depression, anxiety, and stress into the structural equation model.