Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), several reports have shown that fear relating to COVID-19 has sharply increased. To measure fear of COVID-19, various questionnaires have been developed in parallel. However, fear concerning COVID-19 is not necessarily a uniform construct and the different questionnaires may cover diverse aspects. To examine the underlying structure of fear of COVID-19, we conducted structural equation modelling and network analyses on four scales in an online convenience sample (N = 829). Particularly, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (Ahorsu et al., 2020), the Fear of the Coronavirus Questionnaire (Mertens et al., 2020), and the COVID Stress Scales (Taylor, Landry, Paluszek, Fergus et al., 2020, Taylor, Landry, Paluszek, Rachor et al., 2020) were included in our study, along with a new scale that also assessed socio-economic worries relating to COVID-19. We found that fear of COVID-19 was best classified into four clusters: Fear of health-related consequences, fear of supplies shortages and xenophobia, fear about socio-economic consequences, and symptoms of fear (e.g., compulsions, nightmares). We also find that a central cluster of items centered on fear of health, which likely represents the core of fear of COVID-19. These results help to characterize fear due to COVID-19 and inform future research.

自冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 爆发以来，几份报告显示与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧急剧增加。为了衡量对 COVID-19 的恐惧，同时开发了各种问卷。然而，对 COVID-19 的恐惧不一定是统一的结构，不同的问卷可能涵盖不同的方面。为了检查对 COVID-19 恐惧的潜在结构，我们在一个在线便利样本中对四个尺度进行了结构方程建模和网络分析 ( N= 829）。特别是，对 COVID-19 量表的恐惧（Ahorsu 等人，2020 年）、对冠状病毒问卷的恐惧（Mertens 等人，2020 年）和 COVID 压力量表（Taylor、Landry、Paluszek、Fergus 等人， 2020 年，Taylor、Landry、Paluszek、Rachor 等人，2020 年）以及一个新的量表，该量表也评估了与 COVID-19 相关的社会经济担忧。我们发现，对 COVID-19 的恐惧最好分为四类：对健康相关后果的恐惧、对供应短缺和仇外心理的恐惧、对社会经济后果的恐惧以及恐惧症状（例如，强迫症、噩梦）。我们还发现，一组中心项目以对健康的恐惧为中心，这可能代表了对 COVID-19 恐惧的核心。这些结果有助于描述因 COVID-19 引起的恐惧并为未来的研究提供信息。