Development and psychometric testing of the Chinese Postnatal Risk Factors Questionnaire (CPRFQ) for postpartum depression

Abstract

This article describes the development and psychometric assessment of the Chinese Postnatal Risk Factors Questionnaire (CPRFQ). There were four phases in this process: (1) the items were generated using a literature review and a focus group, (2) content validity was evaluated by an expert panel, (3) a pilot study was conducted with 45 postpartum women to refine the scale, and (4) a convenience sample of 256 postpartum women in China was recruited to complete the questionnaire. Construct validity was established by exploratory factor analysis; a four-factor structure of the scale was accepted (social and family, personality and relationship, mother and infant, maternal feelings and 'doing the month'). These factors explained 47.46 % of the variance. Pearson's correlation coefficient was conducted to test convergent validity with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (r = 0.54; p < 0.001). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the four subscales ranged from 0.58 to 0.71. The final 18-item version of the questionnaire is potentially a valuable tool for assessing postnatal risk factors in Chinese postpartum mothers.