Development of a psychometric instrument for the assessment of reproductive profile in men and women

Abstract

A psychometric instrument to explore emotions and conflicts towards reproductive ability, pregnancy, delivery and parenthood in individual men and women was developed. Two primary inventories, the first using visual analogue scale (VAS) and the second a five-point Likert response format, were completed by 84 women and 28 men. In three items only, out of 52, divergent answers were recorded by the two forms. Likewise factor analysis revealed a high degree of concordance. The balance between deep emotional needs and psychosocial burden was found to be a most important clement in reproductive attitudes. The Likert format was preferred for future large-scale attitude measurements and could serve as a basis for individual interviews in selected cases.