SCIENCE@home

Measuring postnatal demoralisation: adaptation of the Demoralisation Scale-II (DS-II) for postnatal use

I. Bobevski,D. McKenzie,Heather Rowe,D. Kissane,D. Clarke,J. Fisher

Published 2018 in Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Demoralisation Scale II (DS-II) and adapt it for use with women in the postnatal period. Background: Demoralisation is a psychological state characterised by a sense of incompetence and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness in response to a stressful situation. The postnatal period is a life stage of many disruptions. Women may lose their confidence and become demoralised if feeling unprepared for the tasks of motherhood. The DS-II is a 16-item scale developed among cancer patients, but with content that is also relevant postnatally, including items on sense of failure, helplessness, hopelessness, isolation, entrapment and loss of purpose. Methods: Rasch analysis was used to investigate the psychometric properties of the DS-II and refine the scale for postnatal use. Results: Participants were 209 women admitted with their babies to a residential early parenting programme. A 14-item revised scale was derived, the Postnatal DS-II, showing good psychometric properties, discriminant validity and sensitivity to change, and being well targeted to the sample. Conclusion: The Postnatal DS-II could have utility as an assessment tool, helping clinicians to understand better women’s postnatal experiences, assess the effectiveness of interventions and communicate with women in a meaningful and non-stigmatising way.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-55 of 55 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-4 of 4 citing papers · Page 1 of 1