Validation of the Korean Version of Attitudes Toward Motherhood Scale (AToM) in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to verify the validity and reliability of Sockol's Attitudes Towards Motherhood Scale (AToM). Methods The subjects of this study were 534 pregnant women. The factor structure, reliability and validity of the AToM scale were examined, and SPSS 23.0 and Mplus 7.4 were used for all data analyses. Results The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed that 12-items were composed of 3-factor structure (beliefs related to others’ judgments, beliefs related to maternal responsibility, beliefs related to maternal role idealization). The 12-items were found to be significant correlations among items and the reliability coefficient was .86. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 3-factor model and the factor loadings were found to be appropriate. Validity analysis showed that general dysfunctional attitudes, pregnancy stress, happiness, and AToM had significant correlations, so criterion validity were verified. Conclusion Based on the results of this study, we discussed the application of the AToM scale and implications for future research. Keywords: attitudes towards motherhood scale, validity, pregnant women