Psychometric evaluation of the Perinatal Illness Perceptions Scale (PIPS)
| Pages | 74-85 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-09-2018-0054 |
| Date | 11 March 2019 |
| Published date | 11 March 2019 |
| Author | Julie Jomeen,Colin Robert Martin,Patricia Mary Jarrett |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Mental health education |
Psychometric evaluation of the Perinatal
Illness Perceptions Scale (PIPS)
Julie Jomeen, Colin Robert Martin and Patricia Mary Jarrett
Abstract
Purpose –Perinatal mental health (PMH) is acknowledged as a significant public health issue associated
with significant personal, family, social and economic burden. Research demonstrates that healthcare
practitioners lack knowledge and confidence in this area but there is likely to be a complexity of factors that
may influence practitioner behaviours, including negative attitudes towards people with mental health and
inaccurate illness perceptions. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the psychometric properties
of the Perinatal Illness Perceptions Scale (PIPS), a conceptual derivation of the Illness Perception
Questionnaire –Revised.
Design/methodology/approach –A cross-sectional and exploratory instrument development design,
using exploratory factor analysis, was employed.
Findings –The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties revealing three sub-scales: causes,
consequences (mother); consequences (baby).
Originality/value –The findings implicate the PIPS as the first robust psychometric measure, which can be
used to in the assessment of practitioner knowledge of the causes and consequences of PMH. The PIPS
could offer the opportunity to assess these domains within both educational and training context and identify
practitioner attitudes which may affect clinical decision making and referral decisions.
Keywords Psychometric, Mental health, Midwives, Perinatal, Illness perceptions
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Perinatal mental health (PMH) is a significant global public health issue (NICE, 2014). This has
established a clear remit for maternity practitioners in the identification and assessment of a
range of PMHP problems (Noonan et al., 2017; Howard et al., 2018).
The significance of PMH is not only the mental health of the mother (Khalifeh et al., 2015) but
beyond the perinatal period on the long-term health, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioural
development of children particularly among disadvantaged populations, with clear economic
consequences (Bauer et al., 2014). Early intervention does have the potential to positively impact
and maternal and child outcomes (Khalifeh et al., 2015), yet failures to appropriately identify and
manage women with PMH continue (RCOG, 2017).
Midwives and health visitors (Jones et al., 2015) express concern regarding their knowledge and
skills in assessing and managing women with PMHPs (Noonan et al., 2017) with knowledge
deficit identified as a barrier to care (Byatt et al., 2013; Higgins, Carroll and Sharek, 2016).
Beyond knowledge and confidence, there is a complexity of factors that may influence
practitioner behaviours, including negative attitudes towards people with mental health problems
(Schafer et al., 2011). This affects understanding of PMHPs and may be linked to a lack of
experience and familiarity with mental health issues and also perception of an illness.
Practitioners form mental representations of an illness, which can determine how they respond
emotionally to an individual with that illness. The significant issue here is that practitioners due to
their own backgrounds, experiences and professional training may have differing perceptions of
a condition, this can lead women down different illness trajectories and care pathways
Received 13 September 2018
Revised 6 November 2018
Accepted 19 November 2018
Julie Jomeen is based at the
Faculty of Health Sciences,
University of Hull, Hull, UK.
Colin Robert Martin is Professor
at the Institute of Clinical and
Applied Health Research,
University of Hull, Hull, UK.
Patricia Mary Jarrett is a
Freelance Health Researcher
based in London, UK.
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THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
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VOL. 14 NO. 2 2019, pp.74-85, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228 DOI 10.1108/JMHTEP-09-2018-0054
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