Development and testing of a self-report measure of preparing to parent in the context of a fetal anomaly diagnosis.
Anne Chevalier McKechnie, Kari Erickson, Matthew B Ambrose and 5 others
PMID 32839046WHAT IT FOUND
Expectant parents facing a fetal anomaly described how they prepare for parenting through a new questionnaire.
It may help clinicians spot counseling needs, but testing was small and did not show it improves parent or infant outcomes.
Key findings
01A new 19-item self-report questionnaire was created to capture how expectant parents facing a fetal anomaly prepare for parenting.
02In 67 pregnant women, the Act and Engage scales reached the paper's 0.70 reliability threshold, but the Relate scale did not.
03The paper says PreP-ARE takes less than 5 minutes and may help clinicians assess parenting preparation, collaborative readiness, and mental health support needs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The field-testing sample was 67 pregnant women, and the paper notes this was smaller than 10 participants per item. The Relate scale did not reach the paper's reliability threshold of 0.70. The study did not test whether PreP-ARE predicts depression, traumatic stress, family outcomes, or infant outcomes. The paper says additional field testing is needed, including in subgroups by diagnosis and in a more diverse sample. The field-testing sample was pregnant women, so the results do not show how partners or other caregivers would respond.
Declared interests
The authors report no declarations of interest. The publication types list NIH and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat PreP-ARE as a validated diagnostic tool or assume that using it will improve counseling, parenting, or infant outcomes. The paper tested a questionnaire in a small field-testing sample, found a scale below its reliability threshold, and says further outcome testing is needed.