Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Nov 2021)

Identification of Bonding Difficulties in the Peripartum Period Using the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale-Japanese Version and Its Tentative Cutoff Points

  • Hashijiri K,
  • Watanabe Y,
  • Fukui N,
  • Motegi T,
  • Ogawa M,
  • Egawa J,
  • Enomoto T,
  • Someya T

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 3407 – 3413

Abstract

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Koyo Hashijiri,1 Yuichiro Watanabe,1 Naoki Fukui,1 Takaharu Motegi,1 Maki Ogawa,1 Jun Egawa,1 Takayuki Enomoto,2 Toshiyuki Someya1 1Department of Psychiatry, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, JapanCorrespondence: Yuichiro Watanabe Email [email protected]: Identification of pregnant women with bonding difficulties is important to provide early intervention. However, few studies have examined the utility of self-report questionnaires that assess mother–infant bonding as screening tools for bonding difficulties. This longitudinal study aimed to identify pregnant women with bonding difficulties using the Japanese version of the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS-J) and to estimate its optimal cutoff points in the peripartum period.Patients and Methods: A total of 1301 pregnant women completed the MIBS-J and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) at three time points: first trimester (T1; approximately 12– 15 weeks gestation), third trimester (T2; approximately 30– 34 weeks gestation), and postpartum (T3; approximately 4 weeks postpartum). A two-step cluster analysis was conducted to classify pregnant women based on their MIBS-J subscale scores at the three time points. Based on the cluster analysis results, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to estimate the optimal cutoff scores for the MIBS-J total score at each time point.Results: The two-step cluster analysis produced two clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 824) and Cluster 2 (n = 477). Both the MIBS-J and HADS scores were significantly higher in Cluster 2 than in Cluster 1 at all time points. The MIBS-J tentative cutoff points were 3/4, 3/4, and 2/3 at T1, T2, and T3, respectively.Conclusion: We identified two distinct groups across the perinatal period: pregnant women with bonding difficulties and pregnant women with normal bonding. Our findings suggest the usefulness of the MIBS-J as a screening tool to identify bonding difficulties during pregnancy.Keywords: bonding difficulties, cluster analysis, HADS, MIBS-J, ROC analysis

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