  The present study examines the factor structure of a Portuguese version of
the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale (PVD), designed to assess
individual differences in chronic concerns about transmission of infectious
diseases. Method: Data from a Portuguese convenience sample (n=1203), collected
during the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Results: the scale revealed,
through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis
(CFA), a slight superiority of a three-factor model over the existing
two-factor models of the 15-item original PVD and of the 10-item PVD
established with another Portuguese sample (Ferreira et al., 2022).
Conclusions: This higher level of differentiation in terms of a perceived
resistance to infectious diseases could be explained by the pandemic context
which may have differentiated the responses regarding the perception of
Resistance. On the other hand, this new factor increases the comprehensive and
evaluative dimension and implications of the construct assessed by PVD.
