Maternal foetal attachment and personality during first pregnancy

Abstract

This study aims to apply and modify an inventory measuring maternal foetal attachment (MFAS) for use in a Swedish population, and to relate these data to personality traits measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP). Previously, we found changes in women's personality traits at childbirth. The attachment and personality profiles were studied in women expecting their first child at the 13th (n~50, response rate 87%) and 36th week of gestation (n~50, response rate 76%). The scores on the total MFAS were high, significantly higher for women tested in the later phase of pregnancy (pv0.01). A factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure ('visualizing motherhood', 'wonder and worry', 'nourishing self and foetus', and 'relation to foetus and own body'), not replicating the five a priori factors of Cranley. Linear regression analyses showed positive correlation between the total attachment score and the tendency to feel 'guilt' and the desire for 'social desirability' as reflected by the KSP. Attachment subscales showed a positive correlation with 'somatic anxiety', 'guilt', 'psychasthenia', 'social desirability', 'inhibited aggression' and phase of pregnancy. Negative correlation with 'psychic anxiety' and 'emotional detachment' was found. These findings are, to our knowledge, a fairly new contribution to the literature on maternal foetal attachment.

Factors associated with administration of analgesics for children with forearm fracture

“…Two scales were identified for pregnant women: Maternal Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) 12,13,17,18 and Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS).…”

“…It can be used for mothers (MFAS) and fathers (Paternal Fetal Attachment Scale [PFAS]), and aims to measure the attachment between the parents and the fetus. 20 It has been adapted for Sweden 12 and Turkey…”

“…All publications that used this tool showed acceptable levels of reliability. However, the Dutch version, when used for mothers of infants aged [8][9][10][11][12] weeks, showed problems regarding reliability. The use of this version is appropriate for babies aged between 4 and 5 months.…”

Prenatal attachment in Swedish IVF fathers and controls

“…Studies of women have shown that personality seems to influence prenatal attachment. For example, women who rated a high degree of detachment were less attached to their fetus than women who scored low on the personality dimension detachment (Sjö gren et al, 2004;Hjelmstedt et al, 2006). However, the contribution of personality to prenatal attachment among men has not been studied previously to our knowledge.…”

“…PFA consist of 24 items and as recommended, the item ''I feel my body is ugly'' was deleted (Mercer et al, 1988). The responses to each item of the scale have previously been rated on a five-point Likert-scale (Weaver & Cranley, 1983;Mercer et al, 1988) as well as on a four-point Likert scale which was applied for Swedish women (Sjö gren et al, 2004). Here, we have used a four-point Likert scale.…”