Analysis of the internal structure of the Slovenian version of the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI)

Abstract

A phrase maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) is used to describe a variety of emotions, behaviours, perceptions and cognitions of pregnant woman toward her unborn child. Several scales have been developed for measuring different aspects of MFA. The purpose of this study was to analyse the internal structure and reliability of the Slovenian version of Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI; Müller, 1993). PAI and a sociodemographic questionnaire were administered to a sample of 619 pregnant women in their second trimester of pregnancy, recruited from Clinic of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Ljubljana. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a three-factor solution had better fit to the data than a one-factor solution. However, we decided to keep a more parsimonious one-factor solution as there was high overlap between factors in the three-factor solution. We also considered the theoretical background of the PAI and previous studies of its underlying structure. Results showed good reliability of the PAI. PAI is a psychometrically appropriate instrument for use in research setting.

Keywords

• Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI)
• confirmatory factor analysis
• reliability