| Description |
The problem of the study was to conduct the initial stages in the development of a documented, valid, reliable, written instrument to measure beliefs and perceptions about childbearing. The instrument developed contains five domain scales as follows: Fear of the Childbirth Process, Personal Values About Childbearing and Childrearing, Childbearing Health Locus of Control, Father's Role and Response in Childbearing, and Passive Compliance Versus Active Participation in Childbirth Care Decisions. The process of instrument development included a comprehensive review of the literature to generate items, content validation by an expert panel, pretesting with 30 subjects, administration of the initial instrument to 382 individuals (one-fourth men and three-fourths women) in the general population from two counties in Utah, and FORTAP Analysis of the items to generate a final instrument for normative data with 254 first-time expectant women and 253 first-time expectant fathers utilizing a sample ratio based on the number of births in each county. All groups were convenience samples as broadly representative as possible by using a variety of contact sources in each group. In addition to the 100 items in the 5 domain scales, 3 miscellaneous questions, 8 demographic items, 8 health behavior items, and 16 childbearing practices were included. FORTAP Analysis resulted in Alpha coefficients for the 5 scales from .76 to .63. Factor Analysis of the scales was conducted to test for the independence of the domains. Three factors were identified: 1) Childbearing Self-Competency based on the Fear of the Childbirth Process, Childbearing Health Locus of Control and Passive Compliance Versus Active Participation in Childbirth Care Decisions Scales; 2) Personal Values; and 3) Father's Role. A circumplex model was constructed using the first two factors. Frequencies, measures of central tendency, Pearson Correlation, and Regression Analysis were also carried out. A series of tables trace the history of each item from validation and pretest through general population testing to the final instrument. All items are traced, including those dropped at various points in the testing procedure. A copyrighted manual titled, Utah Test for the Childbearing Year: Beliefs and Perceptions About Childbearing, will be available Fall, 1981. |
