ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2024
Psychometric properties of the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale and the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire in three German samples.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Understanding parental bonding in the first two years after birth: exploring family predictors using growth mixture modeling.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Postnatal Bonding in the First Year After Birth: The Role of Maternal Depression, Resilience, and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic and War-Related Stress-A Prospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Development of a revised and abbreviated version of the postpartum bonding questionnaire (PBQ-R): First U.S. validation and association to child outcomes.Infant mental health journal · 2026Article
- Postpartum depression and maternal-infant bonding: the mediating role of mentalizing and parenting self-efficacy.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- An update comprehensive review on the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for postnatal physical and psychological disorders.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
- Treatment of women with postpartum mental disorders in a day clinic mother-baby unit and the effect on child behavioural problems - A 1-year follow-up.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
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Abstract
backgroundForming an emotional bond towards the infant is an important developmental aspect of the mother-child relationship. Two questionnaires frequently used for the assessment of mother-infant bonding, namely the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), have shown inconclusive psychometric properties. To ensure comparability of results across studies, it is crucial to examine the replicability of psychometric properties and previously proposed factor structures of measurements when adapted to other languages.
aimThe study aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of the German versions of both MPAS and PBQ, across three different German-speaking study samples.
methodsMaternal data from three longitudinal studies from Hamburg, Germany (PAULINE-PRINCE study, N = 229), and Dresden, Germany (MARI study, N = 286; DREAM study, N = 1,968), were used to investigate the psychometric properties (descriptive statistics, item difficulty, inter-item correlations) and the factorial structure (confirmatory factor analysis, CFA; principal axis factoring, PAF) of both MPAS and PBQ. Correlations with maternal-fetal bonding, adult romantic attachment style, attachment style to one's own mother, postpartum depressive symptoms, and education level were investigated.
resultsAcross the three samples, both MPAS and PBQ showed convincing results regarding the psychometric properties for their total scores, with satisfying to excellent internal consistencies. A strong correlation between the MPAS and PBQ total scores was observed (r=-.71, p < .001). In PAF, for both questionnaires, factor structures on subscale level differed across samples and assessment points. For MPAS and PBQ total scores, significant small to medium-sized associations in the expected directions with maternal-fetal bonding and depressive symptoms, as well as for MPAS with adult romantic attachment style, and for PBQ with attachment towards one's own mother were found. In two samples, higher educated participants reported less optimal MIB.
conclusionThe results across the three included samples provide evidence for the validity of the construct assessed with the German adaptations of both MPAS and PBQ. However, the factor analytical results on subscale level highlight the need to further investigate the concept of mother-infant bonding in the first year after birth as well as to develop instruments applicable for use in clinical and community samples with satisfying psychometric properties.
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