Psychometric properties of the maternal worry scale for children with chronic illness

Objective: To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a scale termed the Maternal Worry Scale (MWS) designed to measure maternal worry about children with chronic illnesses. Method: The sample consisted of 140 mothers of young children (mean age 8.2 years, 64% female) with a chronic illness (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, or sickle cell disease). Maternal worry, depression, and anxiety, as well as information about the child's health and behavior, were assessed through structured interviews. Results: The MWS had good internal consistency (alpha = .94) and test-retest reliability (r = .84). Analyses indicated a single-factor structure for the MWS. Estimates of construct validity were quite positive: the MWS was moderately correlated with parental depression (r = .34-.39), anxiety (r = .27), and maternal report of child behavior problems (r = .25 [externalizing], r = .46 [internalizing]). Conclusions: The results suggest that the MWS is a useful, reliable, and valid scale for measuring worry of mothers raising children with chronic health conditions.