title: [Examination of the psychometric properties of the French translation of the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS)].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prenatal attachment (PA) is defined as the relationship that develops between a woman and her foetus. Three measurements exist for evaluating PA: the Maternal Foetal Attachment Scale (MFAS), the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS) and the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI). Of these three, only the PAI has been used in French.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The overall objective of the current study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of this second measure of PA: the MAAS. This scale was developed in 1993 by Condon. The MAAS is a 19-item self-report questionnaire which allows for calculating a total attachment score and two subscale scores; one score estimating the quality of the affective attachment experience and the other that estimates the intensity of concern about the foetus. For each item, the future mother provided an appreciation on a 5-point Likert scale (1=absence of feelings for the foetus; 5=very strong feelings for the foetus).
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was composed of 117 primiparous French females (27.5 ± 4.27 years) in the third trimester of pregnancy (32.84 ± 3.77 weeks of amenorrhea). The study was carried out over a period of 5 months (January-May 2012). Each woman was asked to provide demographic data, a French version of the MAAS, a validated French version of the PAI, and a scale evaluating depressive symptoms (Edinburgh PostNatal Depression Scale, EPDS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MAAS demonstrated moderately good psychometric properties. Condon's two-factor structure of MAAS was not supported in our sample. Four factors were identified with exploratory factor analysis. Internal consistency was satisfactory for the global scale and for the factor 1 but not sufficiently adequate for the other factors. Concurrent validity was indicated by moderate correlations between the global MAAS scores with the total PAI score. A weak but significant inverse correlation was found between the MAAS and the EPDS suggesting good divergent validity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors suggest that additional research be conducted on the measurement before confirming the validity of the French version.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire interuniversitaire de psychologie (LIP), UFR LLSH-département de psychologie, université de Savoie, domaine de Jacob-Bellecombette, BP 1104, 73011 Chambéry cedex, France. Electronic address: Anne.Denis@univ-savoie.fr.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Denis
authors.affiliation: Centre d'études et de recherches en psychopathologie (CERPP), URI Octogone, université Toulouse II Le Mirail, 5, allées A.-Machado, 31058 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Callahan
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de psychologie et neurocognition (LPNC), université de Savoie, BP 1104, 73011 Chambéry, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D033261:Maternal-Fetal Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachement anténatal; Depressive symptoms; Grossesse; MAAS; Pregnancy; Prenatal attachment; Symptômes dépressifs