1 University of Deusto (Spain) 2 Quirón Bilbao Assisted Reproduction Center (Spain) Contact email: lucia.navarro@deusto.es

PRENATAL BOND ASSESSMENT SCALE (PBAS): RESULTS OF A PILOT STUDY

Navarro Aresti, L.1, Martínez Pampliega, A.1, Iraurgi Castillo, I.1, & Martín Íñigo, S.2

INTRODUCTION The study of prenatal bond of the pregnant women with the fetus enables to detect possible difficulties for the mother when establishing an affective relationship with the unborn baby. This may affect the fetus growth, delivery and future mother-child relationship. However, it does not exist any suitable instrument that evaluates this union in a specific way and with good psychometric properties for the Spanish population.

METHOD - Study design: cross-sectional. - Participants: 525 pregnant women attending Maternal Education classes in 29 centers of Bizkaia (Spain).

- Instruments:

1.  The Prenatal Bond Assessment Scale (PBAS): This Likert scale has 56 items with five options for each answer divided in seven subscales: Search for information about the fetus, Fantasize about the fetus, Interact with the fetus, Fetal protection, Recognition of the fetus as a separate individual from the mother, Detection and gratification of the needs of the fetus, and Fear of loss of the fetus. All items have been reached by the judgment of three experts.

2.  Ad hoc developed questionnaire of reproductive background.

CONCLUSIONS The PBAS final version is composed of 24 items: 32 items have been removed due to their inadequate psychometric properties. Two dimensions, Fetal protection and Detection and gratification the needs of the fetus, have been grouped into one: Altruistic protection of the fetus. The global reliability of the inventory is high (0,83) and the dimension ratios that compose it oscillate between 0,60 and 0,86. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis has been proved a model of six dimensions subsumed under a second order general factor, and has been obtained an adequacy fit indexes (χ2= 502,94; p< .001; GFI= .92; CFI= .95; RMSEA= .03 [.02 - .04]). Due to its adequate psychometric properties, the PBAS can be proposed as a valid instrument to measure the prenatal bond of the pregnant woman with the fetus.

Goodness of Fit Index χ2

(246) = 502,94; p< 0,001 χ2/df = 2,04 χ2 SB (246) = 396,91; p< 0,00 χ2/df = 1,61

AIC = 10,94 GFI = 0,92 CFI = 0,95 RMSEA = 0,03 (0,02 - 0,04)

Figure 3. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the PBAS

* Reverse coded items; M: mean; SD: standard deviation; Sk: skewness; Kur: kurtosis; r: coefficient of correlation of the item with the rest of the scale; Alpha: coefficient of reliability of the total scale if the item is removed; ra: coefficient of correlation of the item with the subscale to which it belongs; Alphaa: coefficient of reliability of the subscale if the item is removed.

Table 1. Age and gestational age of participants

Mean Standard Deviation Minimum - maximum Age 33,46 3,71 16 - 43 Gestational age 31 4,39 25 - 39

Table 3. Reliability indices of the PBAS Cronbach's

alpha Prenatal Bond Assessment Scale .83 Search for information about the fetus .78 Fantasize about the fetus .75 Interact with the fetus .86 Altruistic protection of the fetus .77 Recognition of the fetus as a separate individual from the mother .84 Fear of loss of the fetus .60

RESULTS Table 2. Descriptive data

Prenatal

Bond

Search for

information

Altruistic

protection

Interact

Fantasize

Fear of loss

Recognition

38 52 41 49 6 44 10 37

31

34

36

46

12

16

30

47

25 56 29 35 2 54 14 19

.65 .63 .82 .60 .78 .65 .76 .75

.70 .61 .56 .72 .89 .55 .58 .70

.66

.58

.62

.63

.78

.83

.88

.88

.43

.99

.72

.93

.90

.36

.12

.69

.75 .77 .57 .80 .62 .76 .65 .66

.70 .79 .82 .69 .46 .83 .81 .71

.62

.56

.46

.46

.75

.81

.79

.77

.46

.62

.89

.78