Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy

© 2016. Background: Assessment of childbirth fear, in advance of pregnancy, and early identification of modifiable factors contributing to fear can inform public health initiatives and/or school-based educational programming for the next generation of maternity care consumers. We developed and evalu...

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Main Authors: Stoll, K., Hauck, Yvonne, Downe, S., Edmonds, J., Gross, M., Malott, A., McNiven, P., Swift, E., Thomson, G., Hall, W.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier Ltd 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23598
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author Stoll, K.
Hauck, Yvonne
Downe, S.
Edmonds, J.
Gross, M.
Malott, A.
McNiven, P.
Swift, E.
Thomson, G.
Hall, W.
author_facet Stoll, K.
Hauck, Yvonne
Downe, S.
Edmonds, J.
Gross, M.
Malott, A.
McNiven, P.
Swift, E.
Thomson, G.
Hall, W.
author_sort Stoll, K.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016. Background: Assessment of childbirth fear, in advance of pregnancy, and early identification of modifiable factors contributing to fear can inform public health initiatives and/or school-based educational programming for the next generation of maternity care consumers. We developed and evaluated a short fear of birth scale that incorporates the most common dimensions of fear reported by men and women prior to pregnancy, fear of: labour pain, being out of control and unable to cope with labour and birth, complications, and irreversible physical damage. Methods: University students in six countries (Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Iceland, and the United States, n = 2240) participated in an online survey to assess their fears and attitudes about birth. We report internal consistency reliability, corrected-item-to-total correlations, factor loadings and convergent and discriminant validity of the new scale. Results: The Childbirth Fear - Prior to Pregnancy (CFPP) scale showed high internal consistency across samples (a > 0.86). All corrected-item-to total correlations exceeded 0.45, supporting the uni-dimensionality of the scale. Construct validity of the CFPP was supported by a high correlation between the new scale and a two-item visual analogue scale that measures fear of birth (r > 0.6 across samples). Weak correlations of the CFPP with scores on measures that assess related psychological states (anxiety, depression and stress) support the discriminant validity of the scale. Conclusion: The CFPP is a short, reliable and valid measure of childbirth fear among young women and men in six countries who plan to have children.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-235982018-03-29T09:06:48Z Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy Stoll, K. Hauck, Yvonne Downe, S. Edmonds, J. Gross, M. Malott, A. McNiven, P. Swift, E. Thomson, G. Hall, W. © 2016. Background: Assessment of childbirth fear, in advance of pregnancy, and early identification of modifiable factors contributing to fear can inform public health initiatives and/or school-based educational programming for the next generation of maternity care consumers. We developed and evaluated a short fear of birth scale that incorporates the most common dimensions of fear reported by men and women prior to pregnancy, fear of: labour pain, being out of control and unable to cope with labour and birth, complications, and irreversible physical damage. Methods: University students in six countries (Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Iceland, and the United States, n = 2240) participated in an online survey to assess their fears and attitudes about birth. We report internal consistency reliability, corrected-item-to-total correlations, factor loadings and convergent and discriminant validity of the new scale. Results: The Childbirth Fear - Prior to Pregnancy (CFPP) scale showed high internal consistency across samples (a > 0.86). All corrected-item-to total correlations exceeded 0.45, supporting the uni-dimensionality of the scale. Construct validity of the CFPP was supported by a high correlation between the new scale and a two-item visual analogue scale that measures fear of birth (r > 0.6 across samples). Weak correlations of the CFPP with scores on measures that assess related psychological states (anxiety, depression and stress) support the discriminant validity of the scale. Conclusion: The CFPP is a short, reliable and valid measure of childbirth fear among young women and men in six countries who plan to have children. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23598 10.1016/j.srhc.2016.02.004 Elsevier Ltd restricted
spellingShingle Stoll, K.
Hauck, Yvonne
Downe, S.
Edmonds, J.
Gross, M.
Malott, A.
McNiven, P.
Swift, E.
Thomson, G.
Hall, W.
Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
title Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
title_full Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
title_fullStr Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
title_full_unstemmed Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
title_short Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
title_sort cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23598