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Development and validation of a childhood self-efficacy for functional constipation questionnaire
N R Santucci1, P E Hyman1, A Karpinski2
1Pediatric Gastroenterology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Background:
Children with functional constipation fear painful bowel movements leading to stool withholding behavior. Self-efficacy is the belief that an individual can accomplish a given goal. If children with constipation avoid defecation because they think that they are unable defecate comfortably, this low self-efficacy may prevent treatment success. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a constipation specific self-efficacy scale.
Methods:
The self-efficacy for functional constipation questionnaire (SEFCQ) was developed by the authors and evaluated by 10 children and seven experts. Ninety-nine healthy children and 122 children with functional constipation completed the SEFCQ and three other questionnaires measuring related constructs.
Key Results:
Minor changes were made in wording based on feedback from experts and children. Factor analysis showed two scales, a 7 item Action scale (Cronbach's α = 0.88) and a 7 item Emotion scale (Cronbach α = 0.86). The SEFCQ total scale correlated positively with general self-efficacy (r = .32, P < .001) and quality of life (r = .20; P < .01) and negatively with anxiety (r = -.15; P < .05). Scores on the SEFCQ were higher in children without functional constipation compared to those with functional constipation (53.33 + 3.38 vs 39.34 + 7.19, P < .001).
Conclusions & Inferences:
We developed a constipation specific self-efficacy questionnaire with good initial internal reliability, excellent face validity and adequate content validity. A low self-efficacy for defecation, may make the child resist their physical urge to defecate and hence, the need for further studies to assess its effect on treatment outcomes.
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