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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2009

Open Access 01-12-2009 | Research article

A survey on worries of pregnant women - testing the German version of the Cambridge Worry Scale

Authors: Juliana J Petersen, Michael A Paulitsch, Corina Guethlin, Jochen Gensichen, Albrecht Jahn

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2009

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Abstract

Background

Pregnancy is a transition period in a woman's life characterized by increased worries and anxiety. The Cambridge Worry Scale (CWS) was developed to assess the content and extent of maternal worries in pregnancy. It has been increasingly used in studies over recent years. However, a German version has not yet been developed and validated.
The aim of this study was (1) to assess the extent and content of worries in pregnancy on a sample of women in Germany using a translated and adapted version of the Cambridge Worry Scale, and (2) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the German version.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study and enrolled 344 pregnant women in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Women filled out structured questionnaires that contained the CWS, the Spielberger-State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI), as well as questions on their obstetric history. Antenatal records were also analyzed.

Results

The CWS was well understood and easy to fill in. The major worries referred to the process of giving birth (CWS mean value 2.26) and the possibility that something might be wrong with the baby (1.99), followed by coping with the new baby (1.57), going to hospital (1.29) and the possibility of going into labour too early (1.28). The internal consistency of the scale (0.80) was satisfactory, and we found a four-factor structure, similar to previous studies. Tests of convergent validity showed that the German CWS represents a different construct compared with state and trait anxiety but has the desired overlap.

Conclusions

The German CWS has satisfactory psychometric properties. It represents a valuable tool for use in scientific studies and is likely to be useful also to clinicians.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
A survey on worries of pregnant women - testing the German version of the Cambridge Worry Scale
Authors
Juliana J Petersen
Michael A Paulitsch
Corina Guethlin
Jochen Gensichen
Albrecht Jahn
Publication date
01-12-2009
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2009
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-490

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