Validation of Impact of Events Scale in nurses under threat of contagion by severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Yang, Pinchen; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Wu, Hsiu-Yueh

The purpose of the present study was to validate the Impact of Events Scale (IES) in a sample of nurses working under threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The internal consistency, construct validity and convergent validity of the instrument were examined in a sample of 128 nurses during the SARS outbreak in Taiwan. Principal component analysis followed by a quartimax rotation were used to derive a two-factor solution, labeled intrusion (factor 1) and avoidance (factor 2), with both factors accounting for 50.7% of the explained variance. The total Cronbach's alpha of 0.90 reflected the good internal consistency of the instrument. Correlation with the Symptoms Checklist 90-R demonstrated the convergent validity of the IES. In conclusion, the IES can be used as a convenient, reliable and valid instrument for evaluation of the psychological distress of nurses working with the highly contagious disease.