How to Measure Maternal-Foetal Bonding: Validation of the Croatian Version of the Prenatal Attachment Inventory

Abstract

Maternal-foetal bonding represents a bond that a mother has with her foetus. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) in Croatian pregnant women. Adult pregnant women (N = 850) between 13 and 28 weeks of pregnancy filled out the PAI, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), anxiety subscale of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and Pregnancy Concerns Scale (PCS). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) have shown that the hypothesised factor structures from previous studies demonstrated poor model fit. Subsequently, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on half of the sample (n = 425) and revealed a two-factor structure. However, this was not confirmed by the CFA on the other half of the sample. Because the items mainly referred to baby movement, the process was repeated in a sub-sample of women pregnant 20 weeks or more (n = 502), with EFA and CFA conducted on half of the sub-sample. In the EFA, 21 items were reduced to 13, with three factors identified. In the CFA, we accepted the higher-order factor model with three first-order factors: Affection towards the foetus, Familiarity with foetal movement and behaviour, and Fantasising about the foetus. The total scale and three subscales demonstrated high reliability, good divergent validity, and adequate discriminant validity. Prenatal Attachment Inventory with 13 items has good psychometric properties when applied after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Further research is needed to establish valid measures for early maternal-foetal bonding.