Surveying prenatal attachment in fathers: the Italian adaptation of the Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (PAAS-IT).

OBJECTIVE: This study focuses on the process of the father's bonding with the fetus and aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (PAAS).

BACKGROUND: The construct of prenatal attachment has been created to systematically investigate the nature of the particular bond that develops in the minds of parents expecting a child. Paternal attachment to the unborn child has not been well explored until now, despite its undoubted importance. The PAAS is a 16-item questionnaire evaluating paternal thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions towards the fetus validated with Australian fathers.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. A forward-backward translation was used to obtain the PAAS Italian version (PAAS-IT). A sample of 165 Italian fathers completed the PAAS-IT, the 20-Toronto Alexithymia Scale and a sociodemographic questionnaire also investigating the father's attitudes towards the fetus. The reliability and construct validity of the PAAS-IT were evaluated. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were conducted.

RESULTS: The PAAS-IT psychometric characteristics were adequate. The PCA yielded a two-dimensional model explaining 34% of the variance. The CFA acknowledges the truthfulness of this model. The items loading on the two factors did not exactly match that found in the original PAAS, suggesting the influence of specific cultural features.

CONCLUSIONS: The PAAS-IT is a reliable and valid instrument to use in Italian clinical settings to investigate the development of the paternal attachment towards the unborn child.