2012 Volume 26 Issue 2 Pages 166-178
Purpose
In this study, the author designed a scale to measure pregnant wives satisfaction with their husbands' supportiveness based on the couples' awareness. The author also tested the content validity.
Method
Participants were couples who were undergoing a single-child pregnancy (divided into groups for early, middle, and last phases of pregnancy). In all, 760 couples were recruited. Among these couples, 437 responded to the questionnaire and 419 were included in the analysis. The questionnaire was designed based on three aspects of husbands' supportiveness of their wives: "Intimacy of couple", "Family system", and "Realization of parenthood". There were 40 questions for the early phase of pregnancy, 46 questions for the middle phase, and 51 questions for the last phase. Couples were asked to indicate if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with various aspects of their relationship related to the pregnancy on a 5-point Likert-like scale.
Results
Wives answered 14, 21, and 24 questions for the early, middle, and last phases of pregnancy, respectively, while husbands answered 17 questions for the early phase, 20 for the middle phase, and 17 for the last phase. Three factors emerged: "Empathy for wives' feelings and health", "Support in doing housework", and "Communication between the couple relating to the birth of their baby". Because the factor structure correspond three aspects of husbands' supportiveness of their wives, the content validity was confirmed. Cronbach's alpha was between .78 and .92, indicating high internal consistency.
Conclusion
This study designed a questionnaire to measure pregnant wives' satisfaction with their husbands' supportiveness. As mentioned above, cronbach's alpha was between .78 and .92, indicating high internal consistency. Because the factor structure correspond three aspects of husbands' supportiveness of their wives, the content validity was confirmed. We succeeded in designing a questionnaire to assess couples' awareness on this topic.
