Development of a Transition Process Scale for High-risk Infant's Caregiver

Background: Transition into parenthood is a major developmental life event and is very significant because development in infanthood is affected by the transition process of mothers parenting an infant. This study aimed to develop the assessment tool for transition process of high risk infant's caregiver in Korea. Methods: The participants were 246 mothers of premature infant born with gestational age (< 37 weeks) or low birth weight (< 2500 gm), of less than 24 months of age. Preliminary items were derived from transition process scale for parent of children with autism. Factor analysis was performed to test construct validity of the scale, the correlation between transition processes and parenting efficacy was used for testing predictive validity. Results: The final scale was composed of 23 items divided into 5 factors: wandering (7 items), devotion (5 items), acceptance (4 items), denial (4 items), frustration (3 items). The total variance for validity described by the 5 factors was 60.8% and the reliability of the scale was total Cronbach's alpha 0.90 and wandering 0.85, devotion 0.78, acceptance 0.72, denial 0.72, and frustration 0.71. Correlation between transition process and parenting efficacy was statistically significant; wandering(r=-0.61, P <.001), devotion (r=-0.60, P<.001), acceptance (r=0.30, P <.001), denial (r=-0.31, P <. 001) and frustration (r= -0.27, P <.001). Conclusion: This final assessment scale will be used to investigate high-risk infant caregiver's transition process and provide basic data for program development to provide differentiated support and care at each process.