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The maternal self-efficacy scale for preventing early childhood diarrhea: validity and reliability
Emanuella S Joventino1, Lorena B Ximenes, Paulo C Almeida
1Nursing Department, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.
Objective:
This study aimed to develop and validate a psychometric scale for preventing early childhood diarrhea in endemic areas.
Design And Sample:
Before applying to the field, the scale was subjected to content validity by a panel of experts and piloting. The final version was applied to 448 mothers of children 0- to 5-year-olds, living in Fortaleza, northeast Brazil. Structured interviews were conducted to identify diarrheal episodes in the study children.
Results:
Significant negative correlations were found between higher maternal self-efficacy scores and previous childhood diarrhea (p = .001). In addition, positive correlations were found with maternal age (p = .018). The frequency of children (6-36 months old) with diarrhea was significantly lower when scale scores were higher (p = .015). The predictive validity revealed that high levels of maternal self-efficacy were a protective factor against childhood diarrhea. Cronbachs alpha was .84.
Conclusions:
The scale was found reliable. Cultural adjustments may be needed to extrapolate the scale to other endemic areas worldwide.
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