Turkish Validity and Reliability Study of the Maternal Attitudes Questionnaire

Abstract

Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the psychometric evaluation of the Maternal Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ) in the Turkish population by adapting it to Turkish. Methods: State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and MAQ were used in data collection. The research sample comprised 359 women in the perinatal period. To evaluate test–retest reliability, MAQ was administered to 20 participants again after 4 weeks. Results: Four items with item–total–item correlations below 0.3 were removed from the questionnaire, and analysis was continued on 10 items. In the factor analysis, a two-factor structure was obtained, explaining 45.59% of the variance. The Cronbach α coefficient of the questionnaire in our sample was found as 0.664. For test–retest reliability, the Pearson correlation coefficient was found as 0.804 after a 4-week period. Maternal Attitudes Questionnaire correlated significantly with EPDS, STAI, and DAS. Conclusion: According to the results of our study, the Turkish version of the MAQ is a valid and reliable measurement tool in the perinatal period.