The Development of Instruments to Measure Attitudes Toward Abortion and Knowledge of Abortion

An abortion-attitude scale and an abortion knowledge inventory that may be used by health educators, counselors, and researchers in order to assess attitudes toward abortion, knowledge of abortion, and to determine the relationship between these 2 factors was developed. The information obtained can be used to assist in the development of educati onal programs and curricula and to aid counselors in becoming more helpf ul to the students. The instruments were constructed from a sample of undergraduate students at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. All students were from randomly selected classes and participated voluntarily. The instruments were completed during the summer of 1973. The Abortion-Attitude Scale is a 5-point summated rating scale designed to determine each subject's positive or negative attitude toward abortion as a birth control method. The Abortion-Knowledge Inventory has a 4-option multiple choice format, designed to determine each subject's knowledge about abortion. The mean attitude score for the final administration to 527 students was 116.6 which falls almost halfway between 90 (undecided) and 150 (fully in favor), indicating a generally liberal attitude. The mean knowledge scores for the 527 students was 16.1 which is equal to a percentage score of 54%. In order to determine the relationship between attitudes toward and knowledge of abortion as birth control, scores on the 2 scales were correlated. The results indicate a moderate and statistically significant relationship. It appears that with more knowledge about abortion the students tended to have more favorable attitudes.