Psychometric properties of the Fear of Birth Scale in women in the perinatal period: A multicountry study

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Assessing Fear of Birth Scale's (FOBS) psychometric properties in the perinatal period using multicountry data is a step toward effectively screen clinically significant fear of childbirth (FOC) in maternal healthcare settings. FOBS psychometric properties were analyzed in women in the perinatal period using data from Australia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Portugal. FOBS' reliability, criterion (known group and convergent), concurrent, predictive, and clinical validity were analyzed. FOBS was completed by 3431 women in pregnancy (n = 2984) or postpartum (n = 447). Sociodemographic, obstetric, neonatal, and mental health-related data, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and tokophobia severity were self-reported. FOBS has good reliability. Known-group validity was established based on differences in sociodemographic, obstetric, neonatal, and mental health-related variables. Convergent validity was found with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and birth trauma. Concurrent validity was found with tokophobia severity. FOBS scores in pregnancy predicted elective cesarean section, and postpartum depressive and anxiety symptoms. FOBS discriminates between women with and without clinically significant FOC in pregnancy and postpartum, with optimal cut-offs across countries. This multicountry study suggested that FOBS is a psychometrically strong measure that can be an effective tool to screen clinically significant FOC in the perinatal period.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)365-380
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Affective Disorders
Volume374
Early online date14 Jan 2025
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-7472-674X/work/176343928
Scopus 85215410497

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Fear of birth scale, Fear of childbirth, Postpartum, Pregnancy, Psychometric properties, Tokophobia