Abstract
The Baby Care Scale (BCS) was designed to assess the involvement of father in infant care during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the BCS – antenatal (BCS-AN) and BCS – postnatal (BCS-PN) versions. A sample of 100 primiparous fathers completed the BCS-AN and/or the BCS-PN and self-reported the measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms and of father–infant emotional involvement during pregnancy and the postpartum period, respectively. Good internal consistency was found for both the BCS-AN and the BCS-PN. A two-factor model was found for both versions of the instrument: (1) household tasks and (2) infant care tasks. The BCS-AN and BCS-PN subscales revealed good internal consistency. Higher scores on the BCS-AN predicted higher scores on the BCS-PN. Significant associations were found among the BCS (BCS-AN and BCS-PN), depressive and anxiety symptoms, and father–infant emotional involvement, revealing good criterion validity. This study suggested that both the BCS-AN and the BCS-PN are reliable multidimensional self-report measures that assess the involvement of father in infant care during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Highlights
During the past several decades, major changes occurred in family structures
This study aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Baby Care Scale (BCS) – antenatal (BCS-AN) and BCS – postnatal (BCS-PN) versions in fathers
The first factor contains five items related to the involvement of father in household activities and contributes 25.1% of the total explained variance
Summary
During the past several decades, major changes occurred in family structures. The role of men as fathers has changed, and an increase in their involvement in infant caregiving has been observed (e.g., Parke, 2004). The knowledge on father–infant relationships has increased (Lamb, 1981, 2013), validated measures to assess the involvement of father in infant care are scarce, which limits research in this field
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