Fear of Getting Pregnant Scale Development Study

Abstract

Purpose: This study was carried out in order to develop a measurement tool that determines the factors that may be effective in women's fear of getting pregnant and to bring it into the literature. Methods: The sample of the study, which was carried out in methodological and analytical type, consisted of 240 sexually active women who applied to the obstetrics clinic of a hospital in the Anatolian side of Istanbul between February 1 and June 1, 2021. The study data were obtained with the "Personal Information Form" and the "Fear of Getting Pregnant Scale" created by the researchers. The draft scale, which consisted of 22 items when it was first developed, took its final form with 18 items as a result of the necessary validity and reliability studies. The scale consisted of three sub-dimensions: “physical reasons” (5 items), “psychological reasons” (6 items), and “social reasons” (7 items). Explanatory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Barlett test, Cronbach alpha test, Shapiro-Wilk test were used in the development of the scale. After evaluating the content validity of the scale, test-retest reliability, internal consistency and construct validity were examined. Results: In the validity and reliability study of the Fear of Getting Pregnant Scale, the Content Validity Index (CVI) was found to be “0.837”. The total cronbach alpha value of the scale was determined as 0.951, and the cronbach alpha value for the "physical reasons" sub-dimension was 0.910, the cronbach alpha value for the "psychological reasons" sub-dimension was 0.898, and the cronbach alpha value for the "social reasons" sub-dimension was 0.904. Conclusion: In line with these data, it was determined that the “Fear of Getting Pregnant Scale” is a valid and reliable scale.