War is a macro-social stressor whose effects extend beyond conflict zones, causing psychological distress in indirectly affected populations. Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have intensified global anxiety and worry, particularly affecting young adults' mental health. In Italy, research on the indirect psychological effects of war remains limited, due to a lack of validated assessment tools.
This contribution introduces the development and validation of the War Worry Scale (WWS), a tool to assess the psychological impact of war (Studies I and II). It also investigates the effect of Worry about War (WW) on Generalized Anxiety and Depression in Italian young adults, focusing on the mediating roles of Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) and Future Anxiety (FA) (Study III).
Study I involved 250 young adults (M = 22.58) and used Exploratory Factor Analysis to identify 10 items across two dimensions. In Study II, a separate sample of 500 participants (M = 22.84) was recruited, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported a second-order model of WW with two first-order factors - Worry about the Present and Worry about the Future - with excellent fit indices (CFI = .97; TLI = .96; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .03). The scale demonstrated full gender invariance, strong internal consistency and good validity. Study III tested a parcel-based Structural Equation Model on a new sample of 460 participants (M = 22.44), revealing a direct effect of WW on Anxiety (p < .05) and confirming IU and FA as mediators in the hypothesized relationship (all p < .001). The model showed good fit (CFI = .96; TLI = .95; RMSEA = .06; SRMR = .05).
These findings confirm the validity and reliability of the WWS, suggesting it may serve as a valuable tool in designing targeted interventions to support youth experiencing distress related to contemporary potentially traumatic events.