Psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the empowerment scale for pregnant women

Abstract

Empowering pregnant women is a crucial process that healthcare providers should evaluate, as empowerment is a meaningful indicator that can reflect the impact of health promotion and education in antenatal care. The Empowerment Scale for Pregnant Women (ESPW) is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring empowerment. The cross‐sectional study was conducted to translate and validate the psychometric properties of the ESPW among 526 pregnant women in China. The forward‐backward method was used to translate the English version of the ESPW into the Chinese version. Reliability was examined with the internal consistency and test‐retest coefficients. Validity was analyzed with structural, dimensionality, convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. The Cronbach's α value of 0.97 and the intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], [0.96, 0.99]) demonstrated excellent internal consistency and test‐retest reliability. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that five factors with eigenvalues > 1 explained 68.41% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis verified an acceptable model that fit the data exceptionally. The Chinese‐translated version of the ESPW (CV‐ESPW) had acceptable convergent and discriminant validity. Concurrent validity was supported by the correlation between the total scores of the CV‐ESPW and the Chinese version of the Patient Perceptions of the Empowerment Scale (r = 0.64, p < 0.001). The CV‐ESPW is a valid and reliable assessment tool for measuring pregnant women's empowerment in China and can potentially contribute to evaluating the effectiveness of programs that empower pregnant women.