Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a Version of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy for Women’s Partners

Main Article Content

Geraldine Barrett
Jennifer A Hall
Beth Howden
Dilisha Patel
Jill Shawe
Judith Stephenson

Abstract

Background
The role of women’s partners in pregnancy planning has gained importance with the development of preconception care. The measurement of pregnancy planning/intention has also changed in the last two decades with the development of psychometric measures such as the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP). This analysis aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a version of the LMUP for women’s partners in the UK.


Methods
The LMUP items, adapted for completion by partners, were piloted and included in a survey of (mainly male) partners in three antenatal clinics in London, UK, as part of a study of pre-pregnancy health and care. The psychometric properties of the partner LMUP were assessed according to the principles of Classical Test Theory.


Results
There were 575 partners of pregnant women in the sample, 573 (99.7%) being men. There were high comple-tion rates for all the LMUP items. The distribution of LMUP scores ranged from 1–12, with a negative skew (biased towards planned/intended pregnancies). In terms of reliability (internal consistency), Cronbach’s alpha was 0.69, item-rest correlations were >0.2 for five items, and all inter-item correlations were positive. In terms of construct validity, principal components analysis showed that measurement was unidimensional, confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit, and the convergent validity hypothesis of non-perfect, moderate-to-good agreement between couples’ LMUP scores was met.


Conclusions
The partner LMUP performed well in terms of reliability and validity according to internationally-accepted criteria for the performance of psychometric measures and can be used in future research on men and couples. However, we recommend further research relating to the concept of pregnancy planning/inten-tion among partners of all gender identities to understand whether additional content would enhance the measurement of the construct. In particular, we recommend further conceptual exploration with men who have experienced unplanned pregnancies.


 

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Article Details

How to Cite
Barrett, G., Hall, J. A., Howden, B., Patel, D., Shawe, J., & Stephenson, J. (2020). Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a Version of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy for Women’s Partners. International Journal of Mens Social and Community Health, 3(1), e65-e77. https://doi.org/10.22374/ijmsch.v3i1.20
Section
Articles
Author Biographies

Geraldine Barrett, University College London

Research Department of Reproductive Health, UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health

Jennifer A Hall, University College London

Research Department of Reproductive Health, UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health

Beth Howden, University of Bristol

Bristol Medical School

Dilisha Patel, University College London

Research Department of Reproductive Health, UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health

Jill Shawe, University of Plymouth

Institute of Health and Community

Judith Stephenson, University College London

Research Department of Reproductive Health, UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health

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