The term prenatal attachment refers to the affective investment that parents develop towards the unborn baby during the gestation period. Recent research supports the idea that the early relationship between the woman and the child she's bearing is related to the quality of postnatal mother–infant interaction and to the improvement of the woman's health behaviour in pregnancy. This study focuses on the process of the woman's bonding with her foetus and aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI). The PAI was translated into Italian and administered to a sample of 214 low‐risk pregnant women. As prenatal attachment is supposed to measure the mother's capability to emotionally invest in the foetus, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale was also administered to assess the pregnant women's alexithymia level. The results illustrate that the Italian version of the PAI maintains the main psychometric characteristics of the original version. Explorative factor analysis suggested a five‐factor structure. The association between low level prenatal attachment and high level alexithymia may be of interest in mother–infant wellbeing promotion programmes.

The Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire: the Italian version Silvana Rocchi,1 Claudio Ghidelli,2 Roberto Burro,3 Michele Vitacca,4 Simonetta Scalvini,5 Anna Maria Della Vedova,6 Gianmarco Roselli,7 Jean-Pierre Ramponi,8 Giorgio Bertolotti9 1Psychology Service, ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Institute of Lumezzane, 2Psychological Counselling Service, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Brescia, 3Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, 4Respiratory Rehabilitation Division, 5Cardiac Rehabilitation Division, ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Institute of Lumezzane, 6Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, 7Department of Mental Health, Spedali Civili, 8ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Institute of Lumezzane, Brescia, 9Psychology Unit, ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Institute of Tradate, Varese, Italy Background: Resilience focuses on strength under stress, in the context of adversity. Walshâ??s theoretical model identifies relational processes that allow families to tackle and overcome critical situations, dividing them into three domains of family function. The aim of this study was to assess resilience in families of patients with a chronic disease by adapting and validating the Italian version of the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire (Walsh-IT). Patients and methods: An Italian adult sample of 421 participants (patients and relatives) was collected with the aim to assess the reliability and validity of the Walsh-IT. Concurrent validity was carried out by comparing this instrument with the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES III) administered at the same time as the Walsh-IT. Results: Reliability showed high correlation between repeated measurements. The alpha coefficient was 0.946. Both parallel analysis and minimum average partial criteria suggested that the best number of domains is equal to 3, explaining 50.4% of the total variance. Based on the results obtained from the Rasch analysis, items 10, 11, 16, 22, and 23 have been removed resulting in a short-form questionnaire (Walsh-IT-R) of 26 items with three domains: shared beliefs and support (SBS, α=0.928); family organization and interaction (FOI, α=0.863); and utilization of social resources (USR, α=0.567). The total score of the Walsh-IT-R was strongly correlated with the total score of FACES III Real Family Scale (r=0.68; p

The quality of the early parent–infant relationship is crucial for the child’s optimal development, and parental sensitivity plays a key role in early interactions. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of maternal perinatal depression and anxiety symptoms on dyadic sensitivity at three months post-partum, also considering a large set of maternal and infant variables. At the third trimester of pregnancy (T1) and at three months postpartum (T2), 43 primiparous women filled in a set of questionnaires evaluating symptoms of depression (CES-D) or anxiety (STAI), the woman’s parental bonding experiences (PBI), alexithymia (TAS-20), maternal attachment to the baby (PAI, MPAS) and the perceived social support (MSPSS). At T2 mothers also completed a questionnaire on infant temperament and took part in the CARE-Index videotaped procedure. Dyadic sensitivity was predicted by higher maternal trait anxiety scores in pregnancy. In addition, the mother’s experience of being cared for by her father in childhood was predictive of her infant’s lower compulsivity, while paternal overprotection predicted higher unresponsiveness. The results highlight the influence of perinatal maternal psychological well-being and maternal childhood experiences on the quality of the dyadic relationship. The results may be useful to foster mother–child adjustment during the perinatal period.

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between maternal psychological state in the perinatal period and the child’s temperament at 3 months postpartum. Background: The perinatal period is a phase of intense psychological complexity which may increase the risk of the development, or a recurrence of psychological disturbances in parents. The current literature highlights the potential negative effects of a perturbed maternal psychological state on fetal and newborn development. Among the consequences of fetal exposure to maternal states of depression or anxiety are increased inconsolable crying and sleep disturbance in the newborn, difficult temperament, motor and cognitive development delays in children and a higher risk of depression in adolescence. Methods: A longitudinal design using self-report measures of maternal mood, and maternal report of the infant’s temperament, was used. The sample comprised 107 Italian, low-risk nulliparous women. Maternal and infant variables were assessed in the third trimester of pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum. The variables measured included: maternal depression, anxiety, prenatal attachment, alexithymia, social support, maternal bonding with parents, stressful events, and the infant’s temperament. Results: Higher scores of antenatal depression and postnatal state anxiety were independent predictors of increased temperamental difficulties of the baby. Conclusion: The results support the hypothesis that maternal perinatal states of depression or anxiety are associated with increased difficulty in the temperament of the baby as perceived by mothers. This therefore supports the need for prevention-treatment programmes from the early stages of pregnancy.

Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the known risk factors of antenatal depression focusing on the woman’s intrapersonal and interpersonal characteristics, particularly her early experience of the parent–child relationship. Background: Starting from a psychodynamic view, where pregnancy is regarded as a period of normal maturational crisis which under unfavourable conditions may lead to psychopathological conditions, it may be important to outline which factors adversely affect the resolution of this phase. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional survey; a series of questionnaires were administered to a sample of Italian, nulliparous and low risk pregnant women to evaluate depression, anxiety, parental bonding and variables concerning the wellbeing of the woman including the quality of relationships with important people in her life. Results: Logistic regression analysis confirmed the role of several known risk factors of antenatal depression (i.e. concurrent anxiety, the presence of stressful events) and yielded two new findings: a relationship characterised by affectionless-control with the mother in childhood and having experienced a mother who had miscarried. Conclusion: The results underline the relevance of the early mother-daughter relationship in the pregnant woman’s intrapsychic reorganization of motherhood, emphasising the importance of preventive psychological management as part of prenatal care.