Abstract
The present study aimed to develop scales for assessing negative social interactions (NSI) with others, including husbands, parents, parents-in-law and friends, experienced by Japanese women undergoing infertility treatment. Based on previous studies, NSI was defined as social interaction that these women perceived as either negative or unsupportive. The following four scales were then established by selecting items in accordance with the results of our previous qualitative studies: husband NSI; parents NSI; parents-in-law NSI; and friends and others NSI. Questionnaires were mailed to 34 women who had undergone or were currently undergoing infertility treatment. In addition, as a measure of test-retest reliability, 25 of these women answered a second questionnaire, which was identical to the first, four weeks later. Items found difficult to answer by the participants, as well as those revealed to have either a low factor loading by factor analysis or a low correlation coefficient by test-retest analysis, were eliminated. Factor analysis was then re-run to determine validity, and Cronbach’s alpha, test-retest correlations and κ values were calculated to assess reliability. The results of factor analysis revealed that each of the four scales could be assumed to have a one-factor structure. Though Cronbach’s alpha values of each scale were 0.89 and higher, and test-retest correlations were adequate for all items, some items had a low κ value. However, as some items which are characteristic to husband-NSI or parents-in-law NSI were eliminated, those two scales could not be considered sufficient enough in regard to content validity. Further research to evaluate validity and reliability of those four scales is necessary.
