Psychometric testing of the support and control in birth scale

BACKGROUND: The Support and Control in Birth (SCIB) scale primarily measures the perceived support and control of expectant mothers during childbirth, thereby obtaining an understanding of their birth experiences. The advantages of this scale are its good reliability and validity and that it consolidates birth support and control. However, a Chinese version of the scale has yet to be developed. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Chinese version of the Support and Control in Birth Scale (C-SCIB). METHODS: A total of 228 postpartum women participated in this study. The C-SCIB scale was developed through a translation and back translation, followed by an evaluation of its content validity by a group of experts. Cronbach’s α internal consistency and test-retest reliability were used to test the reliability of the scale. In addition, criterion-related validity (predictive validity and concurrent validity) and construct validity were used to test the validity of the scale. RESULTS: The C-SCIB scale showed good results in terms of the item-level and scale-level content validity indices. The Cronbach’s α internal consistency was 0.81, and its test-retest reliability was 0.96. The confirmatory factor analysis results showed the overall goodness-of-fit was parsimony fit indices. The predictive validity analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the C-SCIB scale and the Questionnaire Measuring Attitudes About Labor and Delivery (r = 0.31, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the concurrent validity analysis showed a significant and moderate correlation between the C-SCIB and the Bryanton Adaptation of the Nursing Support in Labor Questionnaire (r = 0.49, p < 0.01) as well as the Labor Agentry Scale (r = 0.51, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The C-SCIB scale was proven to have good reliability and validity, and thus can be used to measure the degree of support and the locus of control perceived by expectant women during labor.