The Adoption Norms and Stigma Scale is a 19-item tool measuring norms and stigma around adoption decisions in the context of unintended pregnancy. The scale uses items on hypothetical situations of a young woman who has chosen those pregnancy decisions. Items are organized into 4 sub-scales: conditional acceptability, anticipated reactions, stereotypes and attitudes.
Geographies Tested: United States of America
Populations Included: Female
Age Range: Adolescents, Adults
Conditional Acceptability
1. If your family will not support you in having a baby, it’s okay to place your child for adoption*
2. If the man involved in the pregnancy will not support you in having a baby, it’s okay to place your child for adoption*
Response Options:
Strongly disagree - 1
Disagree - 2
Neither agree nor disagree - 3
Agree - 4
Strongly agree - 5
Anticipated Reactions
If I got pregnant accidentally, and decided to place the baby for adoption, the people who matter most to me:
3. Would be disappointed
4. Would be happy*
5. Would be mad
6. Would be surprised
7. Would understand*
8. Would be supportive*
9. Would be ashamed
Response Options:
Extremely unlikely - 1
Unlikely - 2
Neutral - 3
Likely - 4
Extremely likely - 5
Stereotypes
Women my age who decide to place the baby for adoption after becoming pregnant accidentally:
10. Are usually low income
11. Usually are trying to keep their man
12. Usually are not well educated
13. Usually end up on welfare
Response Options:
Strongly disagree - 1
Disagree - 2
Neither agree nor disagree - 3
Agree - 4
Strongly agree - 5
Attitudes
14.Women who place a baby for adoption regret it later.
15. In your opinion, how irresponsible is a woman your age who places her baby for adoption
16. In your opinion, how mature is a woman your age who places her baby for adoption?*
17. In your opinion, how selfish is a woman your age who places her baby for adoption?
18. In your opinion, how strong is a woman your age who places her baby for adoption?*
19. In your opinion, how coldheartless is a woman your age who places her baby for adoption?
Response Options:
Not at all - 1
A little bit - 2
Somewhat - 3
Quite - 4
Extremely - 5
*Items reverse coded during scoring
Mean scores of sub-scales and total scale are calculated.
Rice, W. S., Turan, B., Stringer, K. L., Helova, A., White, K., Cockrill, K., & Turan, J. M. (2017). Norms and stigma regarding pregnancy decisions during an unintended pregnancy: Development and predictors of scales among young women in the U.S. South. PLoS ONE, 12(3), e0174210. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174210
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