title: Development and validation of an Infertility Stigma Scale for Chinese women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and validate a scale of stigma for infertile Chinese women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infertile women admitted to the Xiangya Hospital, the Second Xiangya Hospital, and the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University for treatment were approached to participate in this study. The Infertility Stigma Scale (ISS) development involved: [1] item generation based on literature, interview (experts/patients: N=5/N=20) and related scale; [2] pre-test questionnaire formation with both experts' ratings (N=9) and infertile women's feedbacks (N=30); [3] the component structure assessed by principal components analysis with varimax rotation (N=334); [4] convergent validity assessed with Social Support Rating scale, Self-Esteem scale, Family APGAR Index (N=334); and [5] reliability identified by internal consistency Cronbach's α (N=334), split-half reliability (N=334), test-retest reliability (N=20).
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study yielded a 27-item ISS with 4 factors (self-devaluation, social withdrawal, public stigma, and family stigma). Exploratory factor analysis indicated that these 4 factors accounted for 58.17% of total variances. The Cronbach's α, split-half coefficient and test-retest correlation coefficient for the whole scale was 0.94, 0.90, and 0.91, respectively. The associations of the ISS with other measures suggested good convergent validity. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was 0.92.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ISS appears to be a reliable and valid measure to assess levels of stigma experienced by infertile Chinese women. It may be a useful tool to help identify infertile women at greater risks of distress.
authors.affiliation: Xiang Ya Nursing School of Central South University, PR China; The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, PR China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Guanxiu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, PR China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Pingping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China.
authors.forename: Shujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, PR China. Electronic address: leijunbao@126.com.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D057545:Social Stigma; D012944:Social Support; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Infertility; Measure development; Stigma; Women