Development and psychometric properties of a perceived social support scale for nurses returning to work after childbirth

There has been an increase in the number of nurses returning to work after childbirth (NRWCs) in Chinese hospital. Social support is important for NRWCs. To develop and validate a perceived social support scale for NRWCs in China. The original items were based on a literature review, the social support theory, and semi-structured interviews. The Delphi technique was used to adjust further and screen the scale entries to form an initial draft of the scale. From February to October 2023, we recruited 627 NRWCs from hospitals in 12 provinces of China. The psychometric attributes of the scale were examined by construct validity, content validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency reliability. The STROBE checklist was used to guide the submission. 4 dimensions and 22 items compose the initial scale. Exploratory factor analysis verified a four-factor scale structure. The confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the four-factor structure model fitted well. The resulting scale contains 4 dimensions with 18 items. The item-level content validity index ranged from 0.83 to 1.00. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of four dimensions and total scale were respectively 0.957, 0.899, 0.870, 0.945, 0.967. The reliability of the scale over time was further verified, with a coefficient of 0.809 for the overall scale and a range from 0.682 to 0.718 for each domain. The perceived social support scale for NRWCs is a reliable and valid instrument. The application of the perceived social support scale for NRWCs would improve the assessment of social support among NRWCs.