Pollock, Danielle, Esterman, Adrian, Pearson, Elissa, Cooper, Megan, Ziaian, Tahereh, and Warland, Jane (2019) Measuring the silence: development and initial psychometric testing of the Stillbirth-stigma scale. Evidence Based Midwifery, 17 (3). pp. 77-83.

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Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO), and the Lancet's 2011 and 2016 Stillbirth Series, all released a call to action to reduce stillbirth stigma by 2020. However, there is meagre research regarding the concept of stigma as it relates to those who have experienced a stillbirth. Furthermore, there is currently no tool to measure and define the extent and types of stigma felt by bereaved parents; thus, there is no way to determine if stillbirth stigma is being reduced. Therefore, this study sought to create a stillbirth-stigma scale to measure the extent and type of stigma experienced by bereaved parents to gain a better understanding of its constructs. It is anticipated that this scale can be used as a tool to measure any changes in stillbirth stigma to assess if it is being reduced.

Methods: Items for the initial administration of the stillbirth-stigma scale were developed by adapting existing validated stigma scales, gathering information from existing literature, and consulting end-users. Eighty-three potential scale items were piloted on 100 Australian bereaved parents (94 mothers; six fathers) through an online survey.

Ethics: This study was approved on 5 December 2016 by the University of South Australia Human Research Ethics Committee, protocol number 0000036017.

Results: An exploratory factor analysis identified four factors (perceived devaluation stigma, discrimination, disclosure and selfstigma), with the final structure having good factor structure, internal consistency (a=.77), and reliability (r=.90).

Conclusion: The stillbirth-stigma scale has the potential to measure the extent and type of stigma experienced by bereaved parents. Future assessment needs to be conducted to further validate the scale.

Item ID:	62313
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1479-4489
Keywords:	scale-development; stigma; stillbirth; perinatal health; methodology; measurement; psychology; health; midwifery; obstetrics; evidence-based midwifery
Copyright Information:	© 2019 The Royal College of Midwives. Evidence Based Midwifery
Date Deposited:	19 Feb 2020 03:52
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4204 Midwifery > 420499 Midwifery not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9201 Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions) > 920114 Reproductive System and Disorders @ 100%
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