Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Parent Attitudes About Childhood Vaccines (PACV) scale

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the "Parental Attitudes toward Childhood Vaccines" (PACV) scale.

Materials and methods: A two-stage observational validation study was conducted. A back-translation technique was used and then the scale was validated with a sample of 343 parents with children aged 0-72 months. The test-retest method, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Split-half analysis, and item analysis methods were used to determine the reliability of the scale, factor analyses were run to determine construct validity. Explanatory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were applied to assess construct validity.

Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient was measured as .84. The Spearman-Brown coefficient was .82 and the Guttman Split-half coefficient was .81. According to the item-total correlation and Cronbach's alpha values when the item was deleted, no item was deleted from the scale. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the test-retest measurements was .79. The three-factor structure consisting of 15 items explained 51.6% of the total variance. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, a sufficient fit of the model to the model proposed in the original version of the scale was evident (χ²/sd=2.214, RMSEA=.06).

Conclusion: The Turkish version of the PACV is a valid and reliable scale and can be used to identify parental attitudes toward childhood vaccines.

Keywords: Actitudes de los padres sobre las vacunas infantiles; Confiabilidad; Parental Attitudes About Childhood Vaccines; Reliability; Vaccine; Vaccine hesitancy; Vacilación ante las vacunas; Vacuna; Validez; Validity.