Abstract
Objectives: Bonding is a major topic in the field of developmental psychology, due to its importance for adequate child’s development. Studies investigating the relationship between prenatal and postnatal bonding show moderate correlations. However, an important limitation is that no similar instrument was used to measure bonding pre- and postnatally. For the current study, a user-friendly questionnaire was developed to assess maternal bonding during pregnancy and postpartum. Psychometric properties were investigated. Methods: In a large sample of 1,050 pregnant women, 14 positive items, based on the literature, were used to construct a pre- and postnatal bonding questionnaire. The sample was randomly split into two equal subsamples: group I was used for reliability and Exploratory Factor Analysis, group II for Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The bonding scale was assessed at 32 weeks’ pregnancy and at eight and 12 months postpartum. The Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) and the subscale Partner Involvement of the Tilburg Pregnancy Distress Scale (TPDS) were used to assess construct validity. Results: After CFA, a five-item bonding scale remained with excellent model fit (CFI: 0.97, TLI: 0.97, NFI: 0.98; RMSEA: 0.06, lower bound 0.03. Cronbach alpha’s at 32 weeks’ gestation and at eight and 12 months postpartum were: 0.87, 0.80 and 0.79, respectively. Test-retest correlations of the PPBS at 32 weeks’ gestation and at eight and 12 months postpartum were high: 0.42 and 0.41, and 0.67 between eight and 12 months postpartum, respectively. At 32 weeks’ gestation, the PPBS correlated significantly with partner support (TPDS): 0.38. and depression (EDS): -0.24. Similar correlations with depression were found at eight and 12 months postpartum. Conclusion: The five-item PPBS seems to be a user-friendly self-rating scale with good psychometric properties and construct validity, both pre- and postnatally.
Highlights
The formation of the bond between mother and child, described in terms of bonding and attachment, is a major topic in the field of psychology as it is an elementary part of child’s development
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the model fit of the factor structures found with exploratory factor analysis (EFA), assessing the comparative fit index (CFI), normed fit index (NFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)
Parallel Analysis showed two components with Eigenvalues exceeding the corresponding criterion values for a randomly generated data matrix of the same sample size. When this two-factor structure was tested in a CFA in sample II, a poor model fit was found: CFI 0.69, a NFI of 0.70, a TLI of 0.73, and an RMSEA of 0.15 with lower bound of 0.09
Summary
The formation of the bond between mother and child, described in terms of bonding and attachment, is a major topic in the field of psychology as it is an elementary part of child’s development. John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth led the research into the history of this topic by respectively developing the biological basis of the attachment theory and introducing the affective domain [1,2]. There is confusion between maternal-infant bonding and attachment, both being defined in equal terms and used interchangeably in the literature [4]. Attachment, has a reciprocal aspect [5] or refers to the emotional tie from infant to parent [4]. A principle-based concept analysis of the concept of maternal-infant bonding [4] states that maternal-infant bonding describes ‘maternal feelings and emotions towards the infant’. Operationalization takes place in the affective domain; up until now there is limited evidence that it encompasses behavioural or biological components
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