INDICES TO MEASURE CONCERNS OF EXPECTANT PARENTS IN TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD.

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to develop and test a scale to index the concerns of first-time expectant parents. The two-phase research design included (1) an inductive concept generation phase, consistent with the status of knowledge in the field, and (2) a quantitative deductive instrument test of the concepts from phase 1. In the inductive phase, grounded theory analysis using interviews from a theoretical sample of ten expectant parents, provided data to generate a conceptual model. The three induced constructs were Support Cycling, Transition to First-Time Parenthood and Success at Parenting. In the quantitative deductive phase, 45 female and 36 male first-time expectant parents, volunteered from childbirth classes to test the Imle Transition to Parenthood Concerns (ITPC) scale, which indexed the second of the three major constructs generated in the inductive phase. Preliminary internal consistency and content validity assessments of the scale yielded an 87 item paper and pencil scale that would measure intensity of concern about each item. Separate testing for male and female subjects was supported by Hotelling's T² in MANOVA tests of the effects of sex and measured but uncontrolled testing situation variables. Reliability estimates of the ITPC scale, with seven subscales, indicated acceptable coefficient alphas for females and males of .95 and .93, respectively. The seven subscale coefficient alphas ranged from .79 to .92 for females and from .84 to .91 for males. Concurrent criterion-related validity estimates, using one criterion item per subscale, exceeded the criterion of at least .55, ranging from .58 to .83 for females and from .59 to .86 for males. The ITPC scale met preliminary tests of reliability and concurrent criterion-related validity. Since the subject test sample was representative of the middle class, educated type of person, who usually attends childbirth education classes, scale testing results cannot be generalized to other types of samples without testing. Psychometric testing indicated clinicians can use small sub-sets of items to index expectant parent concerns in a quick, easy-to-score, valid and reliable manner. Results could offer sound information to facilitate patient counseling.