Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Men’s Worry about Their Wives’ High Risk Pregnancy Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: High-risk pregnancy causes worry in not only the pregnant woman, but also her husband. There is no suitable instrument to measure the men’s worry in high-risk pregnancies. The current study aimed to develop and psychometrically evaluate the instrument used to measure the men’s worry about their wives’ high-risk pregnancy. METHODS: This research is a mixed exploratory study used to develop a questionnaire and conduct psychometric study on it. This research was performed in the spouses of pregnant women who had referred to public health and treatment centers and hospitals in Gorgan in 2016. The items were derived from the results of interviews with 40 men and a review of literature. Then, content validity, face validity, criterion validity, construct validity and reliability were examined. For structure validity, 370 men were included in the study. As to criterion validity, the Symptom Checklist-25 and men’s worry tool were used. The result of factor analysis was obtained using SPSS software and confirmatory factor analysis was performed by LISREL software. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that the men were worried about pregnancy and delivery, neonatal health, maternal health, and personal and family data. General correlation of the instrument indicated a Chronbach’s alpha of 0.91 and ICC showed an internal consistency of 0.91. Finally, an instrument with 30 items was developed with an acceptable validity and reliability. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire developed a psychometric evaluation instrument to measure the men’s worry in high-risk pregnancies.