Prenatal self-report questionnaires, scales and interviews.

from the chapter) For a woman and for the couple, pregnancy is an extremely important transition phase, during which one prepares to become a parent and to take care of a child who will be immature and dependent for all his first year of life. Research and clinical contributions have lent specific attention to the construction of the maternal identity, defined by Stern maternal constellation, and to the development of maternal capabilities during pregnancy, which are indicative and foretelling of the mother-child relationship after birth, even in at-risk situations. The psychology and psychopathology of pregnancy have been studied using research tools that have addressed different areas. In this paper we will take into consideration a few of the more relevant research areas for this phase: 1. The psychological dynamics connected to the attainment of the maternal identity, analysed through the mental representations of pregnant women; 2. The formation process of the mother's attachment to the fetus during pregnancy, which prepares the stabilization of this attachment after birth; 3. Mental states specific to pregnancy, such as the primary maternal preoccupation. The assessment of prenatal parenting has been done through research instruments with different purposes: semi-structured clinical interviews, self-report-questionnaires and scales. Before describing the instruments more frequently used during pregnancy, here are some brief comments about their use in clinical work and in research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)