Psychometric Properties of the Anxiety Measure: Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 (SAVE-6) for Spanish Medical Students

<i>Backgroud and Objective:</i> The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of SAVE-6 in the medical student population and assess its gender invariance. <i>Subjects and Methods:</i> The sample consisted of 320 medical students aged 18-23 years (153 men and 167 women) who completed an anonymous online questionnaire. Data collection took place in June 2024. To assess the scale structure, a descriptive analysis of the items was carried out, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). To analyze whether there were differences in the invariance of the measure by gender, a multigroup CFA was performed. <i>Results:</i> SAVE-6 showed high internal consistency, α = 0.89 and ω = 0.92, a minimum score of 12, a maximum score of 22, an unifactorial structure, and adequate convergent validity. Specifically, the following were found: the positive and significant relationship with HADS was 0.98 for the full scale, 0.76 for depression, and 0.91 for anxiety, and there was a negative and significant convergent validity with resilience (-0.82) and resilience to suicide attempts (-0.88). Regarding the gender invariance, relevant data is that the factor loadings between each item and the SAVE-6 factor were not the same, so women present a higher level of anxiety than men (Δχ 2 (6) = 42.53). <i>Discussion:</i> The results showed good internal reliability of SAVE-6 and good suitability. Data also revealed that they were not equal in relation to gender. Specifically, the scalar invariance revealed significant differences by items between men and women in anxiety. <i>Conclusions:</i> This scale can be applied to medical students as a reliable and valid instrument to assess the anxiety response to disease contagion in future health professionals.