This research addresses the critical need for a comprehensive prenatal health behaviors instrument. Certain health behaviors involving tobacco use, diet, and sedentary lifestyles have been linked to over 50 percent mortality in the U.S. Despite the significance of women's health behaviors for pregnancy outcomes, scientifically sound and comprehensive measures of health behaviors during pregnancy and preconception are lacking. A correlational design will be used to conduct a psychometric analysis of a Prenatal Health Behaviors Instrument in three phases: (1) item development and instrument construction, (2) one to two cross sectional studies of small samples to clarify items and provide initial reliability information; and (3) a larger longitudinal study to estimate reliability and validity.
