Validation of the Korean version of the Perinatal Infant Care Social Support scale

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Perinatal Infant Care Social Support (K-PICSS) for postpartum mothers.Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. The K-PICSS was developed through forward-backward translation. Online survey data were collected from 284 Korean mothers with infants 1-2 months of age. The K-PICSS consists of functional and structural domains. The functional domain of social support contains 19 items that measure the infant care practices of postpartum mothers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and known-group comparison were used to verify the construct validity of the K-PICSS. Social support and postpartum depression were also measured to test criterion validity. Psychometric testing was not applicable to the structural social support domain.Results: The average age of mothers was 32.76±3.34 years, and they had been married for 38.45±29.48 months. Construct validity was supported by the results of EFA, which confirmed a three-factor structure of the scale (informational support, supporting presence, and practical support). Significant correlations of the K-PICSS with social support (r=.71, p<.001) and depression (r=–.40, p<.001) were found. The K-PICSS showed reliable internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α values of .90 overall and .82–.83 in the three subscales. The vast majority of respondents reported that their husband or their parents were their main sources of support for infant care. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the K-PICSS has satisfactory construct validity and reliability to measure infant care social support in Korea.

Psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the Perinatal Infant Care Social Support tool: a methodological study

“…The exploratory factor analysis revealed three subdomains of functional support: practical support, informational support, and support system. These subdomains align with the three identified in the K-PICSS [ 17 ]. Regarding structural support, spouses and friends were identified as primary sources, while in-laws and parents were also commonly utilized for support.…”

“…The first author translated the original version of the PICSS [ 16 ] into Chinese after obtaining permission to use the tool from the PICSS developer. The Korean version of the PICSS [ 17 ], which has been translated and validated with Korean postpartum women, was selected for translation into Chinese, considering that the Chinese culture of parenting, such as receiving help from in-laws/biological parents, is different from that of the West and closer to that of Korea. The developer of the Korean version of the PICSS provided permission and consultation during the translation process.…”

“…The original PICSS functional support domain includes a support system and practical support [ 16 ]. In contrast, the Korean version of Perinatal Infant Care Social Support (K-PICSS) [ 17 ] is divided into three domains: informational support, support system, and practical support. Responses to each item range from 1, indicating “never,” to 5, indicating “always,” with higher scores (possible range, 19–95) denoting greater levels of social support.…”

“…The reliability of the original instrument was demonstrated with a Cronbach’s α of .90 for the support system domain and .86 for the practical support domain [ 16 ]. The K-PICSS [ 17 ] showed subscale reliability values between .82 and .83, and the overall reliability of the instrument was .90. A Cronbach’s α for the K-PICSS overall was .90.…”

“…Functional support within this domain gauges the extent to which new mothers receive practical assistance, including informational support, as well as a network that offers encouragement, comfort, and appreciation for their baby care efforts. This could be a valid measure of social support for new mothers during the postpartum period, particularly in the context of infant care [ 16 , 17 ]. Structural support, in contrast, identifies who in the social network provides this support [ 16 ].…”