| Title: |
Development of a Revised and Abbreviated Version of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ-R): First U.S. Validation and Association to Child Outcomes |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Andréane Lavallée (ORCID 0000-0001-5702-3084); Jennifer M. Warmingham (ORCID 0000-0003-4215-5126); Mark A. Reimers (ORCID 0000-0001-9023-2785); Paul Curtin; Margaret H. Kyle (ORCID 0000-0003-0771-827X); Judy Austin (ORCID 0000-0003-4348-8942); Seonjoo Lee (ORCID 0000-0003-3177-6357); Tyson Barker (ORCID 0000-0001-5937-7433); Maha Hussain; Elena Arduin; Imaal Ahm; Ginger Atwood; Sharon Ettinger; Grace Smotrich; J. Blake Turner; Prudence W. Fisher (ORCID 0000-0002-7425-5183); Rachel Marsh (ORCID 0000-0003-2439-6305); Dani Dumitriu (ORCID 0000-0002-7873-5192) |
| Source: |
Infant Mental Health Journal: Infancy and Early Childhood. 2026 47(1). |
| Availability: |
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
16 |
| Publication Date: |
2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: |
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH); National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (DHHS/NIH); Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) (DHHS); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (DHHS/PHS) |
| Contract Number: |
K99HD115784; R01MH126531 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: |
Test Construction; Infants; Parent Child Relationship; Mothers; Questionnaires; Test Validity; Depression (Psychology); Child Development; Social Development; Emotional Development; Psychometrics; Factor Structure; Test Reliability; English; Spanish; Child Behavior; Individual Characteristics |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: |
Ages and Stages Questionnaires; Child Behavior Checklist |
| DOI: |
10.1002/imhj.70052 |
| ISSN: |
0163-9641; 1097-0355 |
| Abstract: |
The postpartum bonding questionnaire (PBQ) is a maternal-reported 25-item measure of bonding, available in 15 languages, and widely used for clinical and research purposes in the United States (U.S.) and across the globe. Nonetheless, its putative 4-factor structure initially proposed in 2001 has never generalized or been replicated in other samples, nor has it been studied in U.S. populations. Using a U.S.-based sample of 610 English-speaking mothers who completed the PBQ 4 months postpartum--mean 32.51 ± 5.25 years old and 47.5% first-time mothers--the initial goal of this study was to confirm the 4-factor/25-item structure of the PBQ. Aligned with other published studies, our confirmatory factor analysis did not support the 4-factor/25-item structure. We then used exploratory factor analysis which supported the creation of a 1-factor/14-item abbreviated measure, the PBQ-R. Unlike previous versions of the PBQ, the PBQ-R is scored so that higher scores indicate stronger bonding. The validity of the PBQ-R was supported by its high internal consistency in this sample (w = 0.89), and correlations with maternal depression ([rho] = -0.46) and child neurodevelopment ([rho] = 0.11 to [rho] = 22) and socio-emotional symptoms ([rho] = -0.22 to [rho] = -0.33). The new unidimensional shorter PBQ-R is suitable for use in the U.S. as a measure of general mother-infant bonding. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2026 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1493762 |
| Database: |
ERIC |