Development and psychometric evaluation of the Early Period Mother-Infant Bonding Indicators Assessment Scale.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to develop the Early Period Mother-Infant Bonding Indicators Assessment Scale and to examine its validity and reliability.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional, methodological, correlational study. This study was carried out with 143 mothers in the Sakarya Training and Research Hospital Maternity Service between February and April of 2021. The content validity of the scale was assessed by consulting 11 experts. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed, and the tool's internal consistency and construct validity were analyzed.

RESULTS

For the mothers, the average age was 28.19±5.71. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the overall scale was 0.83, and the Cronbach's alpha values for the subscales were 0.85-0.80. The correlations between the physical and emotional intimacy and exploration and striving subdimensions with the whole scale were found to be highly positive and statistically significant (r=0.919, r=0.869, p<0.005). The exploratory factor analysis showed that the scale explained 55.59% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis found that the physical and emotional intimacy and exploration and striving subdimension factor loads ranged from 0.53 to 0.75 and 0.59 to 0.77, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The two-factor, 13-item Early Period Mother-Infant Bonding Indicators Assessment Scale was confirmed to have sufficient reliability and validity. With these measurement tools, mothers' behaviors towards mother-infant bonding right after birth will be evaluated, and mothers will be directed to get support in the area of weakness.