Development of spousal support scale in the birth process

This methodological study was conducted to develop a scale for measuring spousal support during childbirth. The researchers conducted a literature review to draft a 28-Item Spousal Support During Childbirth Scale (SSDCS). The draft was then sent to 12 experts in the field for their opinions. After receiving expert opinions, scale assessments were made using the Davis technique criteria, and the item with a Content Validity Index (CVI) value of 0.58 was removed from the scale. The study sample consisted of 400 pregnant women followed up in the Labor-Delivery-Postpartum (LDP) 2A-2B service of Ankara City Hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology between January 1, 2022, and May 1, 2023. The data were collected using an Introductory Information Form and the SSDCS two hours after childbirth. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 26 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 21.0 software packages. The Kaiser Meyer Olkin (KMO) value, which was 0.95, indicated that the sample size was excellent for the scale. According to the Bartlett Sphericity test, the data were suitable for factor analysis, and the data had a normal distribution (p<0.05). Considering the scree plot graph for the SSDCS, it consisted of three factors. According to the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results, the scale fit indices were as follows: Chi-square/degrees of freedom (χ2/df)=3.09, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)=0.07, Root Mean Square Residual (RMR)=0.03, Comparative Fit Index (CFI)=, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI)=0.90, and Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI)= 0.90. The fit statistics calculated by confirmatory factor analysis were found to be compatible with the previously determined factor structure of the scale at an acceptable level. The study found the Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient of the SSDCS as 0.95, indicating that the scale was highly reliable. An increase in the total and subscales scores of the scale indicates an increase in spousal support, and there was no cutoff score for the scale. In the scale, the item means were found to be different (Hotelling T2=341.50; F=12.31; p<0.001). Since the nonadditivity significance values obtained from the Tukey's Additivity test were p<0.05, the subscales were considered to have additivity properties (Nonadditivity =139.94). The scale was found to show significant differences between the lower and upper 27% groups (p<0.05), and according to these results, the scale had measurement sensitivity. In addition, the scores obtained from the test-retest analysis of the study were consistent and stable over time, and there was a high level of statistically significant relationship between the total and test-retest scores of the SSDCS (p<0.01). Therefore, the scale provided reliable measurement over a short period. As a result of the analyses and expert suggestions made on the draft of the SSDCS, the final revised version of the scale was determined to consist of 27 items. In conclusion, the SSDCS has high validity and reliability and can be used as an adequate measurement tool to assess spousal support during childbirth process. Keywords: Spousal support, Childbirth process, Validity-Reliability