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 et al., 1998), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Pedrabissi & Santinello, 1996; Spielberger et al., 1984 ), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (Cox et al., 1987; Benvenuti et al., 1999), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Dazzi et al., 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 represents a specific dimension of the scale.