Development and Validation of the Determinants of Childbearing Intention Questionnaire Based on Theory of Planned Behavior in Iranian Women

In today's world, declining fertility rates have led most high- and middle-income countries to pursue pronatalist policies. To plan for fertility desire and intention, it is necessary to examine their determinants in different societies. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate the validity and reliability of a questionnaire that could measure the components affecting the intention to have children.

First, based on an extensive review of the literature, the most appropriate conceptual framework for explaining the immediate components related to the intention to have children was identified. After that, using the literature and expert opinions, the desired domains were selected and experts approved the content of the domains and items via deductive method. The designed questionnaire was completed through interviewing 500 married women (15- 49 years) selected from visitors of inpatients in public and private hospitals in Kerman, Iran 2021. Then, the construct validity of the items indicating three main constructs affecting fertility intention were evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and known-groups validity. The item reliability of these three constructs were examined by calculating Cronbach's alpha.

The theory of planned behavior was selected as the theoretical framework for compiling the constructs of the questionnaire. The three immediate components affecting fertility intention were attitude (8 items), subjective norm (3 items), and perceived control (3 items). All three factors were factorable and the factor loadings of the items in each of the three constructs were above the acceptable minimum level of 0.4. The three factors explained 58% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha values for the three constructs were 0.83, 0.79, and 0.66, respectively.

The determinants of childbearing intention questionnaire designed based on the theory of planned behavior had acceptable validity and reliability and can be used in Iranian married women.