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Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS): adaptation to Spanish and proposal for a brief version of 12 items

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Abstract

The psychometric properties of the adapted Spanish version of the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale were examined. The main goal was to investigate the reliability and construct validity of the conceptual structure of Condon’s proposal. Five hundred twenty-five pregnant women, attending maternal education classes in Bizkaia (Spain), answered the translated and back-translated version of the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale. This scale comprises 19 items with five answer choices divided into two subscales: quality of attachment and intensity of attachment. Participants also answered a questionnaire about the reproductive history that was developed ad hoc for the present study. The Spanish adaptation of the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale final version comprises 12 items: seven items have been removed due to their inadequate psychometric properties. Internal consistency of the inventory is moderate-high (.73) and it ranges from .68 (intensity of attachment) to .75 (quality of attachment) for the dimensions. Three alternative structural models were proven using a confirmatory factor analysis. Lastly, the two-related-factor model was chosen, as it obtained suitable fit indexes (χ 2 = 102.28; p < .001; goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = .92; comparative fit index (CFI) = .95; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .042, 90 % CI [.030–.054]). Due to its adequate psychometric properties, the Spanish version of the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale can be proposed as a suitable instrument for the purpose of measuring antenatal attachment. The study of antenatal attachment helps to detect possible difficulties for the mother in establishing an affective relationship with the foetus. This may affect the foetus growth, delivery and the future mother-child relationship.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all pregnant women for their participation and midwives or persons in charge of maternal education classes from public health centres and private centres for permission to collect data. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Faculty of Psychology and Education and to OTRI/DEIKER at the University of Deusto, and to the experts that contributed to item translation.

Ethical standards

The Research Ethics Committee at the University of Deusto (Bizkaia, Spain) reviewed and provided ethical approval for this research project to proceed. The information obtained was only used for research purposes. Participation in the study was voluntary, and the information obtained was confidential and used solely for research purposes.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Deusto, Avenida de las Universidades, 24, 48007, Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

    Lucía Navarro-Aresti, Ioseba Iraurgi, Leire Iriarte & Ana Martínez-Pampliega

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  1. Lucía Navarro-Aresti
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  2. Ioseba Iraurgi
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  3. Leire Iriarte
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  4. Ana Martínez-Pampliega
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Correspondence to Lucía Navarro-Aresti.

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Navarro-Aresti, L., Iraurgi, I., Iriarte, L. et al. Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS): adaptation to Spanish and proposal for a brief version of 12 items. Arch Womens Ment Health 19, 95–103 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0513-4

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