FEAR OF CHILDBIRTH: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE VALIDATION OF THE ITALIAN VERSION OF THE WIJMA DELIVERY EXPECTANCY/EXPERIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE (WDEQ)

This work tests the psychometric features of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (WDEQ), a self-report instrument that measures the fear of childbirth, in an Italian sample. To 522 Italian primiparous women attending antenatal classes, the following assessments were administered: Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (Wijma, Wijma, & Zar, 1998), StateTrait Anxiety Inventory (Pedrabissi & Santinello, 1996; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (Benvenuti, Ferrara, Niccolai, Valoriali, & Cox, 1999; Cox, Holden, & Sagovsky, 1987), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Dazzi, Pedrabissi, & Santinello, 2004; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991). The WDEQ shows good psychometric properties even regarding the Italian primiparous population, but the analyses suggest a reduction in the number of items. The factorial structure identified both in the pre-natal (WDEQ-A) and the post-partum (WDEQ-B) version consists of three factors: fear, negative feelings, and lack of confidence. The questionnaire measures expectations (WDEQ-A) and personal experience (WDEQ-B) of childbirth. The fear factor represents a specific dimension of the scale.