Development and Psychometric Properties of Pregnancy-Specific Climate Change Awareness Scale

Climate change is a global health problem and threatens our society from all aspects. Pregnant women, fetuses, and newborns are considered vulnerable groups in the context of climate change. Steps to increase awareness about the consequences of climate change on maternal and child health and future generations are important for adaptation strategies.

This study aims to develop a measurement tool that assesses pregnancy-specific awareness of the effects of climate change on maternal-fetal health.

This study used a cross-sectional and methodological design. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with pregnant women who agreed to participate in the study between May and July 2022. Thirty-six items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (from entirely disagree to entirely agree) and applied to 500 voluntary pregnant. SPSS Statistics 22 and Mplus 7 programs were used for data analysis.

As a result of EFA, a 21-item, 3-factor final scale was obtained from the 36-item draft version scale. Result of CFA, the fit index values were found as RMSEA = 0.074, NFI = 0.978, and CFI = 0.975. The fit indices of the awareness scale model were significant (x² = 428.438, sd = 181, p = 0.0000, x²/sd = 2.367). The total internal consistency Cronbach's α coefficient of the 21-item final scale is 0.946.

In line with these data, Pregnancy-Specific Climate Change Awareness Scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used to evaluate the pregnancy-specific climate change awareness level. Studies testing the applicability of the scale in the population of midwives and obstetricians working with pregnant women are recommended.