Validation of Modified Health Care Climate Questionnaire (mHCCQ) in a Perinatal French Population

Abstract

Background: Self-determination theory suggests that autonomy-supportive contexts will facilitate a feeling of control. During childbirth, a major life event, perceived control is an important factor for successful psychological adaptation. Our aim is to validate the mHCCQ (Williams et al., 2005; 2007), short version of the “Health Care Climate Questionnaire†(Williams & Deci, 2001). Six items allow to measure the patient’s perception of health care professional’s support for autonomy. Method: 2 month postpartum, 177 women completed our questionnaire: mHCCQ, GSES (general self-efficacy), HAD-A (anxiety) and SF36 (quality of life). Findings: Factor analysis points out one single factor (resuming 72.04 %) and its 6 items range from 0.76 to 0. 91.Our results show excellent internal coherence (Cronbach’s ?= 0.92). Concerning external validity the score of the mHCCQ is correlated to self-efficacy (r=.314**) and negatively associated to anxiety (r=-.308**). As regards quality of life, 4 significant correlations were found between healthcare climate and mental heath (r=.214**), role emotional (.156*), social functioning (r=.217**), vitality (.202**). Discussion: Our findings are encouraging for the psychometric validation of the mHCCQ for a French population. Further, our results highlight the relation between support for autonomy and positive psychological outcomes.