Development of a scale for parent‐to‐baby emotions: Concepts, design, and factor structure

Abstract

Abstract Aim Although infant crying is a prerequisite for a baby's survival, it often leads to negative consequences for the caregivers. We hypothesized that this would be mediated by a primary emotion that we feel directly in response to an internal or external event. Hence, this study aimed to develop a new scale to measure basic and self‐conscious emotions as primary emotions towards an infant's cry. Methods We conducted a cross‐sectional web survey including the scale for parent‐to‐baby emotions (SPBE)—with 73 items elicited from a literature review—targeted at mothers at 1 month after childbirth (N = 879). A series of explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using item parcels. Internal consistency of the scale was calculated by omega indices. We also examined measurement invariance of the scale. Results The theory‐driven six basic emotions bifactor model (comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.968, root mean square of error approximation [RMSEA] = 0.070) and four self‐conscious emotions factor model (CFI = 0.973, RMSEA = 0.079) were judged as the best models. They were stable in terms of configural, measurement, and structural invariances across parity. Conclusion The SPBE we created is a psychometrically robust measure to assess the primary emotions under the rubric of parent‐to‐baby emotions. It is a promising tool for measuring parent‐to‐baby emotions in clinical and research settings.

Keywords

• basic emotions
• differences between nulliparas and multiparas
• infant crying
• infant gender
• measurement and structural invariance
• self‐conscious emotions