title: Development and validation of a new tool to measure Iranian pregnant women's empowerment.
abstract: Empowering pregnant women improves their health and reduces maternal mortality, but there is a lack of suitable tools to measure women's empowerment in some cultures. This study aimed to design and validate a questionnaire for measuring the dimensions of empowerment among Iranian pregnant women. After a literature review, and face and content validity testing, a 38-item questionnaire was developed and tested on a sample of 161 pregnant women. Factor analysis grouped the items into 3 subscales: educational empowerment (e.g. prenatal training), autonomy (e.g. financial independency and mental ability) and sociopolitical empowerment (e.g. involvement in social and political activities). Criterion validity testing showed a strong positive correlation of the total scale and subscales scores with the Kameda and the Spritzer empowerment scales. Cronbach alpha was 0.92 for total empowerment. A total of 32 items remained in the Self-Structured Pregnancy Empowerment Questionnaire, which is a valid new tool to measure the dimensions of pregnant women's empowerment.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Borghei
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Reasearch Centre, School of Health Science, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taghipour
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: R Latifnejad
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Roudsari
authors.affiliation: Evidence-based Care Research Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keramat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires