title: Psychometric properties and refinement of the Reproductive Coercion Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Identification and refinement of psychometric properties of the Reproductive Coercion Scale (RCS) for use in survey research and clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young women aged 16-29 years seeking services in 24 Pennsylvania and 5 California family planning clinics completed questionnaires. Data were pooled for analysis (n=4674), and underlying domains were assessed using Horn's Parallel Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis. Multidimensional Item Response Theory was used to refine the scale and assess reliability and validity of a short-form RCS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The full, nine-item RCS had two underlying domains: pregnancy coercion and condom manipulation. Five items were retained in the short form: three about pregnancy coercion (e.g., "told you not to use birth control…") and two for condom manipulation (e.g., "taken off the condom while you were having sex…"; one of these items is the combination of two original items on damaging the condom that were combined because of similar statistical properties and face validity and a third item on removing the condom was retained on its own). Recent reproductive coercion was reported by 6.7% and 6.3% of the sample with the full and short-form RCS, respectively. Characteristics of women reporting reproductive coercion were similar with both forms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings indicate that reproductive coercion includes pregnancy coercion and deliberate manipulation of condoms to promote pregnancy. Moreover, women experience reproductive coercion across a continuum of severity. We selected items that varied in RC severity and discrimination to generate a five-item short-form RCS for survey research and clinical practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study assesses the psychometric properties of the RCS, identifying pregnancy coercion and condom manipulation as underlying domains of reproductive coercion. Recommendations for using the RCS in research and clinical practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. Electronic address: mccaul49@hdfs.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: McCauley
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine & Center on Gender Equity & Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jay G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Kelley A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Center for Healthcare Policy & Research, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Tancredi
authors.affiliation: Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Michele R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.affiliation: Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Marie C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: S Bryn
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Heather A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D003068:Coercion; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D011275:Pregnancy, Unwanted; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Domestic violence; Family planning; Partner violence; Reproductive coercion; Unintended pregnancy