Author(s)

Ayako Hada^1,2,3*, Satoru Takeda^4,5, Masumi Imura⁶, Toshinori Kitamura^1,2,7,8

¹Kitamura Institute of Mental Health Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
²Kitamura KOKORO Clinic Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan.
³Department of Community Mental Health & Law, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵Aiiku Research Institute for Maternal, Child Health and Welfare, Imperial Gift Foundation Boshi-Aiiku-Kai, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶Global Health Care and Midwifery Graduate School of Nursing, Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷T. and F. Kitamura Foundation for Studies and Skill Advancement in Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan.
⁸Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.

The Scale for Parent-to-Baby Emotion (SPBE) is a 73-item self-report measure of maternal emotions towards a baby. This study aimed to develop and validate a short version of the SPBE. In Study 1, women with a 1-month-old baby (N = 879) were given a set of questionnaires via a website to create a short version of the scale. In Study 2, we performed explanatory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and measurement invariance of the SPBE short version among 696 women in their 1^st trimester. In Study 3, measurement invariance of the short version of the scale between postnatal and prenatal women in Studies 1 and 2 was examined and the subscale scores were linked to the other correlates. In Study 1, the short version (SPBE-20) with 6-basic and 4-self-conscious emotion subscales was developed. In Study 2, the 6-basic emotions model showed acceptable fit: χ²/df = 4.251, CFI = .951, and RMSEA = .068. The 4-self-conscious emotions model also showed acceptable fit: χ²/df = 5.508, CFI = .964, and RMSEA = .081. All coefficient omega of subscales were >.59. The 4-self-conscious emotions model showed configural up to factor covariance invariance across parity and age. In Study 3, measurement invariance of the 6-basic emotions model was rejected, whereas the 4-self-conscious emotions model showed metric invariance. The subscale scores were significantly correlated with depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms, borderline personality traits, and tokophobia (p < .001). The SPBE-20 may be used in the perinatal period. Further sophistication of the scale is needed.

Basic Emotion, Self-Conscious Emotion, Conceptual Replication, Measure-ment Invariance, Postnatal Woman, Pregnant Women

Hada, A. , Takeda, S. , Imura, M. and Kitamura, T. (2023) Development and Validation of a Short Version of the Scale for Parent to Baby Emotions (SPBE-20): Conceptual Replication among Pregnant Women in Japan. Psychology, 14, 1085-1110. doi: 10.4236/psych.2023.146059.