Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Fantasmatic baby, imaginary baby and the real baby are important concepts for the understanding of the psychological life of pregnant women as of newly mothers.GOAL: To present a new psychometric instrument for the assessment of the difference between imaginary baby and real baby by the first days after delivery.METHOD: Generation of 30 items about the difference between imaginary baby and real baby related to five main areas of newborns’ life: feeding, sleeping, interaction, baby characteristics and temperament.PARTICIPANTS: The “Questionnaire of the Difference Imaginary Baby vs. Real Baby” (QDIBRB) was applied to a sample (N = 190) of newly mothers at Maternidade Dr. Alfredo da Costa in Lisbon.RESULTS: After a series of factorial analysis, Equamax rotation with extraction forced to 4 factors (explaining 52.7% of total variance) provided 3 factors about differences between maternal prenatal and postnatal perceptions on the following areas: F1 - babies’ positive emotional expressions (α = .881), F2 - maternal fears related with babies’ behavioral meaning (α = .850) and F3 - babies’ appealing behavior (α = .783). For the complete scale internal consistency is excellent (α = .921).CONCLUSION: The QDIBRB seems to be able to assess differences between the imaginary baby and the real baby in a psychometric way. Future research is needed to show if data collected with QDIBRB are useful in the world of perinatal psychology
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology. Revista INFAD de Psicología.
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.