title: Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire: confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis with Turkish samples.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study is a report of an investigation of the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Cultural, social and family environments influence women's beliefs about and attitudes towards menstruation. Awareness of these beliefs and/or attitudes and their cultural origins is necessary to understand women and their reactions to menstruation when offering health care. Although the Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire has been used in several studies, the psychometric properties of the Turkish version have not been investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Confirmatory factor analyses were carried out with two different samples - high school (n = 650) and undergraduate university students (n = 569) - in Turkey in the spring semester of 2006. Exploratory factor analyses were then used to modify the factor structure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Confirmatory factor analysis did not confirm the factor model reported in the United States of America. However, compared with British and Indian samples, Turkish attitudes showed better fit than both British and Indian samples with comparative fit index values of 0.776 and 0.797 for the high school and university samples respectively. Finally, exploratory factor analysis yielded a 28-item measure for the high school sample and 31-item measure for the university sample, with a 5-factor solution. Reliability estimates of both scales were satisfactory, being 0.73 for the high school and 0.79 for the university sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The modified 5-factor Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire could be a useful tool for assessing menstrual attitudes among Turkish high school and university students. The overall score permits comparison with results from earlier studies using the original instrument.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. mzfirat@akdeniz.edu.tr
authors.forename: Mehmet Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Firat
authors.forename: Ozen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kulakaç
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oncel
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akcan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008572:Menarche / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008598:Menstruation / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult