The Development and Validation of Media Exposure to Terrorism Scale: A Mixed-Method Approach

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to develop an original, valid, and reliable measure of Media exposure to terrorism (METT) that could adequately measure the effects of METT on the mental health of adolescents exposed to the Army Public School Peshawar terrorist attack through media. Previously available METT measures have some limitations. The scale was developed using a mixed-method approach with a study sample of students aged 12 to 17 years, selected from seven cities across Pakistan. In Phase I, qualitative data acquired based on Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) held with 45 adolescents who had learned about the event through the media, were subjected to content analysis for item generation. Phase II was the tryout and validation of the developed scale. The developed scale was validated through exploratory factor analysis (N = 380), confirmatory factor analysis (N = 332), and tests of convergent validity, contrasted groups, and Cronbach’s alpha. The final METT scale is unidimensional (λ > 0.30) with seven items having high item-total correlation (r = 0.63 - 0.77), good alpha reliability (α = 0.85), and acceptable model fit (CFI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.03). The developed scale can be used to assess the impacts of indirect exposure to terrorism and assist in informing policy and educational programs in the given context.