title: Confirmatory factor analysis of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a Brazilian female population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) is a widely used measure of parenting. Recent studies have proposed different factor structures. There is a disagreement in the literature about whether the PBI is best used as a two-factor or a three-factor measure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and fifty-seven female adults were recruited from a clinical population (139 psychiatric patients and 118 controls) and were requested to complete the PBI. Maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analyses were performed to compare the five different factor structures in terms of model fit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The poorest fit to the data was obtained by the Parker et al. model. The Kendler model was the only model that had an adjusted goodness-of-fit index >0.8 regarding both paternal and maternal PBI. When considering invariance of factor structure across age subgroups, the Kendler model was also the only acceptable model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Three-factor structures are preferable to two-factor structures. The Kendler model was the only one to provide an acceptable fit, but it must be considered that it was a female sample, and when considering gender subgroups other studies have found the same results. Despite the gender limitation, the present study contributes to a better understanding and use of the PBI in Brazilian samples.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre, Brazil. lu.terra@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Terra
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hauck
authors.forename: Sidnei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schestatsky
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Fillipon
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Vania
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hirakata
authors.forename: Lucia H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Ceitlin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D016487:Parenting; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires