Measurement instruments for parental stress in the postpartum period: A scoping review

Abstract

Background Parenting stress is a particular type of stress that is conceptualized as a negative psychological response to the numerous obligations associated with raising children. Despite a considerable increase in research on parenting stress, little attention has been given to the ways parenting stress are measured. Objectives This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of available instruments measuring parental stress and to describe their psychometric properties. Methods We conducted a scoping review in accordance with international guidelines for scoping reviews. The main search strategy was searches in seven electronic databases. Pairs of reviewers selected relevant studies based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies had to report one or more psychometric properties of an instrument measuring stress in parents with children 0–12 months. For each included study, we collected information relevant to the review question, guided by the COnsensus based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN). Finally, we collated, summarized, and reported the findings descriptively. Results From 2164 unique record, 64 studies from 24 countries were included. They described 15 instruments, of which four were generic and eleven parental-specific self-administered instruments. Only two studies examined parental stress among fathers. Eleven of the studies were validation studies, but they only described seven of the 15 instruments. Internal consistency was the only information provided by 73.4% of the included studies. None of the instruments had information on all measurement properties as per the COSMIN criteria, and there was no information about measurement error, responsiveness, or interpretability for any of the 15 instruments. Discussion There are presently 15 instruments with some associated psychometric information being used to measure parental stress among parents with young children, but the amount of information on the instruments’ psychometric properties is slight. There is a need for further research.

Postpartum stress in the first 6 months after delivery: a longitudinal study in Nantong, China

“…This lack of evidence on the accuracy of postpartum stress instruments makes it challenging to understand and mitigate information bias related to postpartum stress. 27 Many studies have investigated the change trends of perinatal depression and anxiety symptoms in women after delivery. In a Canadian perinatal cohort study, anxiety and depression symptoms were found to be heterogeneous; this finding highlighted the importance of conducting multiple mental health assessments during the perinatal period.…”

“…Moreover, postpartum stress is difficult to quantify, and data for the most effective postpartum stress instrument are limited. This lack of evidence on the accuracy of postpartum stress instruments makes it challenging to understand and mitigate information bias related to postpartum stress 27…”

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of Measurement Instruments: A Practical Guideline for Novice Researchers

“… 51 For example, Danielsen et al 52 found that the psychometric properties of adapted versions validated with different tests, recommended the inclusion of a quantitative validation phase that includes one or more tests focused on content validity, criterion validity, reliability and construct validity. Additionally, in a scoping review of Øygarden et al 53 on measurement instruments for parental stress during the postpartum period, it was reported that none of the 15 instruments contained information on measurement error, responsiveness, and interpretability. Echevarría-Guanilo et al 54 argue that researchers should have a comprehensive knowledge of psychometric properties to tailor the research design to the most appropriate psychometric properties of the instrument of interest.…”