ISSUED: 17 October 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The next Shepherd University Faculty Research Forum will explore how well a postpartum stress questionnaire developed in Taiwan works for use in the United States. Dr. Barbara Mott, assistant professor of nursing education, will give a talk titled “Psychometric Field Test of Hung’s Postpartum Stress Scale” on Monday, October 30, at noon in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. The event is free and open to the public.
Hung’s Postpartum Stress Scale (HPSS) was developed by Dr. Chich-Hsiu Hung, a Taiwanese nurse and educator, to measure stressors in Taiwanese women who had just given birth. Mott said this questionnaire is also administered to women in the United States, but her research noted that many of the questions are not relevant to American culture.
Working with a colleague from New Mexico State University and recent Shepherd nursing graduate Sally Rodriguez, Mott used psychometric field testing to analyze HPSS answers from a total of 304 women to determine which of the 62 questions are not relevant in U.S. culture.
“We now have it down to 44 questions that measure the stressors that mothers experience in the United States,” Mott said. “I hope the shorter questionnaire can be used in future research.”
Mott said being able to interpret a diagnostic tool like the HPSS is particularly important to nurses because of their role in helping mothers through the maternity process.
“The nurses are there prenatally at the office visits when mothers come in for their checkups and at delivery,” Mott said. “Nurses are at the bedside postpartum, they’re taking care of the neonate, and they’re working with the mom all the time. It’s important for them to be able to identify stressors and follow up.”
For more information about Faculty Research Forums, visit www.shepherd.edu/frf.
Listen to the interview HERE.
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