Attitudes toward teen mothers among nursing students and psychometric evaluation of Positivity Toward Teen Mothers scale

Abstract

To prepare future nurses who can deliver high quality nursing care to teen mothers, a better understanding of the nursing students' perception of teen mothers is needed. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 228 nursing students to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Positivity Toward Teen Mothers (PTTM) scale, to explore nursing students' general empathy and attitudes toward teen mothers, and to investigate the predictors of nursing students' attitudes toward teen mothers. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation resulted in a 19-item PTTM-Revised scale with Non-judgmental and Supportive subscales. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales were 0.84 and 0.69, respectively, and 0.87 for the total scale. Simultaneous multiple regression models showed that general empathy and having a teen mother in the family or as an acquaintance were significant predictors of positive attitudes toward teen mothers, whereas age was a significant negative predictor. The PTTM-Revised scale is a promising instrument for assessing attitudes toward teen mothers.

Keywords: Attitudes; Empathy; Nursing students; Stigma; Teen mothers.