Table 1 Distribution of items in the Reproductive Agency Scale 17 (RAS-17), 684 pregnant women 19–46 years attending prenatal appointments at Hamad Medical Corporation Maternity Hospital, Doha, Qatar
Scale items by factor and sub-factor | Qatari N = 260 | Arab Non-Qatari N = 424 | All Women N = 684 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M | SD | (n) | M | SD | (n) | M | SD | (N) | Obs. Range | p | |
Intrinsic Reproductive Agencya | |||||||||||
 Awareness of economic rights. Now I’m going read some statements to you. Please tell me how much you agree or disagree with each statement, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree. | |||||||||||
  Every woman should have a university education; univedu | 4.37 | 0.05 | (260) | 4.61 | 0.03 | (424) | 4.52 | 0.03 | (684) | 1–5 | *** |
  A woman is powerful if she works for pay at a job outside the home; workpay | 4.12 | 0.06 | (260) | 4.01 | 0.05 | (424) | 4.05 | 0.04 | (684) | 1–5 |  |
  A woman should be free to sell her own property; sellprop | 4.17 | 0.05 | (259) | 3.99 | 0.04 | (424) | 4.06 | 0.03 | (683) | 1–5 | ** |
  Financial independence makes a woman strong; finanind | 4.07 | 0.07 | (258) | 3.95 | 0.05 | (423) | 3.99 | 0.04 | (681) | 1–5 |  |
  Independent of money, working outside the home strengthens a woman’s personality; wkouthm | 3.97 | 0.06 | (258) | 4.17 | 0.04 | (424) | 4.10 | 0.04 | (682) | 1–5 | ** |
Instrumental Reproductive Agencyb | |||||||||||
 Influence in personal and family decisions. How much influence have you had in the following decisions: 1 = no influence, 2 = a little influence, 3 = some influence, 4 = a lot of influence, and 5 = I decided by myself. | |||||||||||
  How to spend your own money; decmoney | 4.62 | 0.07 | (244) | 4.39 | 0.06 | (388) | 4.48 | 0.05 | (632) | 1–5 | * |
  Whether or not you can leave the house unaccompanied; dleavehm | 3.76 | 0.09 | (204) | 3.67 | 0.07 | (309) | 3.70 | 0.06 | (513) | 1–5 |  |
  What food available in the house you can eat; dfoodeat | 4.41 | 0.07 | (254) | 4.21 | 0.06 | (419) | 4.28 | 0.04 | (673) | 1–5 | * |
  How much you work during your current pregnancy; dwrkprg | 4.18 | 0.10 | (182) | 4.02 | 0.09 | (217) | 4.10 | 0.07 | (399) | 1–5 |  |
  How much you rest during your current pregnancy; drestprg | 4.45 | 0.06 | (251) | 4.18 | 0.06 | (397) | 4.28 | 0.05 | (648) | 1–5 | ** |
 Freedom of movement. Under what circumstances are you allowed to go to the following places: 1 = you are not allowed to go, 2 = you do not go, 3 = you go with permission if accompanied, 4 = you go with permission by yourself, 5 = you go without permission if accompanied, and 6 = you go without permission by yourself. | |||||||||||
| Â | Mode | % | (n) | Mode | % | (n) | Mode | % | (n) | Obs. Range | Â |
  The hospital; fomhos | 4 | 55.4 | (251) | 3 | 50.6 | (419) | 4 | 52.4 | (670) | 1–6 |  |
  The movies; fommovie | 3 | 60.4 | (235) | 3 | 56.4 | (388) | 3 | 58.0 | (623) | 1–6 |  |
  Restaurants at hotels; fomrest | 3 | 74.3 | (237) | 3 | 73.0 | (400) | 3 | 73.5 | (637) | 1–6 |  |
  Coffee shops; fomcoffe | 3 | 69.0 | (242) | 3 | 70.0 | (404) | 3 | 69.7 | (646) | 1–6 |  |
  The mall; fommall | 3 | 58.8 | (250) | 3 | 61.5 | (418) | 3 | 60.5 | (668) | 1–6 |  |
  A female friend’s house; fomfriend | 4 | 71.0 | (248) | 4 | 72.5 | (396) | 4 | 71.9 | (644) | 1–6 |  |
  Parks or gardens; fomparks | 3 | 71.7 | (251) | 3 | 73.0 | (418) | 3 | 72.5 | (669) | 1–6 |  |