Open AccessThe Development and Psychometric Testing of a Self-Care Scale for Dysmenorrhic Adolescents
Author(s) -
Ching Hsing Hsieh,
MeeiLing Gau,
Hsin Chun Mao,
ChungYi Li
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the journal of nursing research/the journal of nursing research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.537
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1948-965X
pISSN - 1682-3141
DOI - 10.1097/01.jnr.0000387495.01557.aa
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , scale (ratio) , confirmatory factor analysis , construct validity , clinical psychology , psychometrics , psychology , psychometric testing , content validity , reliability (semiconductor) , medicine , structural equation modeling , statistics , power (physics) , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
The purposes of this research were to develop and test a self-care scale for dysmenorrhic adolescents. A focus group was employed to obtain information on dysmenorrhic self-care behavior of adolescents. A convenience sample of 361 adolescent girls aged 13-18 were employed who had experienced cramping pain in the lower abdomen during their menstrual periods at least two times within the 6 months prior to the study. Cronbach' s alpha of the scale was found to be 0.89 and both content and construct validity were addressed by a contrast-groups approach and confirmatory factor analysis. It was concluded that the resulting scale was both reliable and valid.