Introduction:

The present research aims to construct and determine the psychometric properties of the “Inventory of Negative and Disturbing Emotional Responses in Pandemic Contexts (IREN-35)” in Mexican adult population. This instrument identifies the presence of negative emotions related to direct or indirect exposure to the virus (SARS-CoV-2), including the experience of physical and social isolation that this causes.

Method:

An exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out with quantitative methodology. In order to determine construct validity, an exploratory factor analysis was performed, as well as the identification of the total and factor reliability coefficients. For convergent validation, a Pearson correlation analysis was used between IREN-35 and Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire. The validation process was carried out during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in Mexico, in phase two of the virus's spread.

Results:

The global results indicate that the IREN-35 is a valid and reliable instrument to identify negative emotions, and presents a good psychometric performance in the adult Mexican population. The instrument consists of four factors with a global Cronbach's alpha of .96: 1) Negative emotions due to “physical” and/or social distancing; 2) Emotions due to “loss” of stability or well-being; 3) Emotions due to perceived “threat”; and 4) Emotions due to perception of intense “danger”.

Discussion or conclusion:

The IREN-35 has a preventive utility in the sense that it can identify the presence of disturbing emotions, likely to contribute -with the passage of time and if their intensity increases- in the formation of some type of emotional distress (factor 1), or depressive disorder (factor 2), anxiety disorder (factor 3), trauma or stress factors (factor 4) in the context of a pandemic.

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