The Maternal Attachment Inventory: Development and validation of a short form

Aims To translate and adapt the Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI) into Spanish; to develop a short form of the instrument that can be used during early childhood; and to test its psychometric properties in a large sample of Spanish mothers. Design Cross-sectional study of adaptation and cultural validation of instruments. Methods Data were collected between February and September 2018. In Stage I, the instrument was culturally adapted using a standardized translation and back-translation method. In Stage II, the factor structure of the Spanish version was tested in a sample of 300 mothers with children aged between 2 and 7 years, and on the basis of the findings a short form of the instrument was developed. Finally, in Stage III, in a second sample of 356 mothers, confirmatory factor analyses of first-, second-order and bi-factor structure were conducted to find the optimal factor structure of the short form of the Spanish MAI. Convergent validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also examined. Results A bi-factor structure with four sub-scales and 17 items emerged from the factor analyses conducted in Stages II and III. Scores on the short form were negatively correlated with mother-to-infant bonding disorders. The short form presented adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Conclusions The Spanish MAI short form is a valid and reliable measure for assessing maternal attachment in mothers of children aged between 2 and 7 years. Impact We present a short version of the MAI for healthcare professionals, adapted for application in a new age range and validated for use with Spanish mothers.

Automated summary

The study aimed to translate and adapt the Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI) into Spanish, develop a short form for use with mothers of children aged between 2 and 7 years, and test its psychometric properties. A bi-factor structure with four sub-scales and 17 items emerged, showing good internal consistency and test-retest reliability for the Spanish MAI short form.