Highlights
- •This study developed a new instrument, the Menopausal Spousal Support Questionnaire (MSSQ), for measuring spouses’ support for menopausal women.
- •The MSSQ is psychometrically valid for measuring spousal support for menopausal women.
- •The MSSQ could serve as a screening tool for healthcare providers.
Abstract
Background
The spouse is the ideal person for providing comprehensive and sustainable support
for menopausal women. However, existing validated questionnaires to measure such support
are limited. This study developed and validated a new instrument, the Menopausal Spousal
Support Questionnaire (MSSQ), for measuring spouses’ support for menopausal women,
and validated its psychometric properties.
Methods
The MSSQ was developed and then validated using sequential exploratory mixed methods
in two phases. In Phase I, the MSSQ was developed based on a literature review, in-depth
interviews with 13 menopausal women and discussions within the research team. This
was followed by Phase II, in which a two-step validation process was conducted to
perform (a) an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with data from 146 menopausal women
and (b) a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with data from 431 menopausal women.
The results were used to determine the psychometric properties of the newly developed
MSSQ.
Results
The final MSSQ consisted of 17 items in four domains: appraisal support, intimacy
support, emotional support and instrumental support. The modelling results demonstrated
a good model fit: root mean square of error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.075, comparative
fit index (CFI) = 0.942, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.921, chi-square/degree of freedom
(ChiSq/df) = 3.546). The scale also proved to be reliable: composite reliability (CR) > 0.6,
average variance extracted (AVE) > 0.5, internal reliability (IR) > 0.93. Conclusions:
The MSSQ is psychometrically valid for measuring spousal support for menopausal women
and could also serve as a screening tool for healthcare providers.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 16, 2021
Accepted:
October 12,
2021
Received in revised form:
October 7,
2021
Received:
May 15,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
