Developing a measure of appraisal: a psychometric analysis of the parental appraisal of cleft questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a questionnaire measure of appraisals for parents of children with a cleft (the Parental Appraisal of Cleft Questionnaire) and to investigate the ability of the Parental Appraisal of Cleft Questionnaire to predict variance in parental well-being. Design, Participants, Setting: The study used a cross-sectional postal and online questionnaire design with a retest component involving parents of children with a cleft lip and/or palate. Data are presented for 179 parents, predominantly women (74.9%), aged 22 to 58 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed the appraisal measure under development; other measures of psychological well-being, social support, and socially desirable responding; and demographic information. RESULTS: Overall, the Parental Appraisal of Cleft Questionnaire was found to have a coherent factor structure, good internal reliability, and good test-retest reliability. The Parental Appraisal of Cleft Questionnaire was also found to predict a significant amount of unique variance in well-being over and above the variance predicted by demographic, social support, and social desirability variables. CONCLUSIONS: Parental appraisals, measured by the Parental Appraisal of Cleft Questionnaire, were found to predict unique variance in well-being. These findings are discussed in relation to adjustment to cleft lip and/or palate for parents. Directions for future research are outlined and the implications for clinical practice and services are discussed.