Psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self‐Efficacy Scale among postpartum women

Abstract

BackgroundMaternal parenting self‐efficacy plays a critical role in facilitating positive parenting practices and successful adaption to motherhood. The Perceived Maternal Parenting Self‐Efficacy Scale (PMPS‐E), as a task‐specific measure, confirms its psychometric properties in cultural contexts. Compared with other tools, the advantages of the PMPS‐E are as follows: (i) specific context or time period during the lifespan of a child, (ii) explicitly assess parenting self‐efficacy across a diverse enough range of parenting tasks or activities during the perinatal/postnatal period and (iii) having robust psychometric properties. The aim of this study was to translate and determine the psychometric properties of the PMPS‐E among Chinese postpartum women (C‐PMPS‐E).MethodThe cross‐cultural adaptation process followed Beaton et al.'s intercultural debugging guidelines. A total of 471 women were included to establish the psychometric properties of the C‐PMPS‐E. Mothers were asked to complete the C‐PMPS‐E, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7) and several demographic questions. The psychometric testing of the C‐PMPS‐E was established through item analysis, construct validity and internal consistency reliability.ResultsItem analysis showed that the critical ratios of all items were greater than 3 between the low‐score group and high‐score group, and all item–total correlation coefficients were greater than 0.4. The fit indices showed that the original correlated four‐factor model of C‐PMPS‐E was observed to be an excellent fit to the data. The PMPS‐E was negatively correlated with the EPDS and GAD‐7 demonstrating its discriminant validity. As expected, no significant correlation was found between PMPS‐E total or subscale scores and mothers' age. In addition, statistically significant differences for parity were detected for C‐PMPS‐E total and subscale scores with multipara having higher scores. This was taken as further evidence of the scale known‐groups discriminant validity. In terms of internal consistency, the Cronbach's alpha of the C‐PMPS‐E total scale was 0.950, and subscales ranged from 0.76 to 0.89. Furthermore, a ROC curve analysis was conducted to establish the ability of the C‐PMPS‐E to distinguish between symptoms of depression and symptoms of anxiety. A cut‐off value of 55 was identified that resulted in good specificity and fair sensitivity.ConclusionThe C‐PMPS‐E is a reliable and valid tool to assess maternal parenting self‐efficacy in a Chinese context.