Validity and reliability of the Arabic version of Muller’s prenatal attachment inventory

Dima Arafah,Bejoy Thomas,Tanis R Fenton,Yasser Sabr,Amy Metcalfe

doi:10.1080/0167482x.2020.1713083

Abstract

Purpose Maternal fetal attachment (MFA) is the bond between the mother and her unborn baby. Presently no tools measuring MFA are available in Arabic. The aim of this study was to translate Muller’s Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) from English to Arabic, examine the cultural appropriateness of this tool, and test its psychometric properties with pregnant women in an Arab country. Materials and methods The PAI was translated from English into Arabic using the Universal Translation Approach (modified tool) and assessed for content validity. During this process four additional items were identified for measurement relevance and cultural acceptability resulting in the revised tool. The psychometric properties of the modified and revised tools were assessed after 250 pregnant Arab women completed the PAI. Factor analysis was conducted to assess construct validity, while reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results Both tools were shown to be unidimensional with excellent reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88 for the modified tool and 0.89 for the revised tool). Nulliparity, planning to breastfeed the baby, feeling fetal movements, and downloading a smartphone app to follow the baby’s growth were associated with increased MFA in the PAI, while only planning to breastfeed the baby, feeling fetal movements, and downloading a smartphone app to follow the baby’s growth were associated with increased MFA in the revised PAI. Conclusion The Arabic version of the PAI is a culturally appropriate tool to measure MFA amongst Arabic-speaking women.

Highlights

Translation is the act of finding the equivalent meaning of a text in another language; the emphasis on meaning equivalence is important since in translation meaning is the object to be rendered from the source language text into the target language text (101)
maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) is a bond between a mother and her fetus and this study aimed to measure this bond with a tool in Arabic, which was previously unavailable
This research resulted in a tool in Arabic that can measure MFA, has strong evidence of internal and external validity and reliability, and is culturally appropriate and acceptable

Summary

Introduction

Translation is the act of finding the equivalent meaning of a text in another language; the emphasis on meaning equivalence is important since in translation meaning is the object to be rendered from the source language text into the target language text (101). Attitudes and thoughts are used in the field of health to provide health care providers and researchers with the ability to explore research participants’ behavioural patterns or to identify a specific characteristic in a group of participants (68) Such tools are established in different ways and are available in many languages; as such, researchers and health care providers must determine if a specific tool can provide accurate and valid results in their population of interest (101). These tools are referred to as “psychological measurements” and checking psychological measurements is referred to as psychometrics (68). Both CFA and EFA can help in assessing construct validity (106) and in approving or disapproving proposed theories regarding the division of items in the tool (106)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion