Factor analysis of the Maternal Fetal Attachment Scale.

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the Maternal Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) subscales using factor analysis. The 23-item MFAS is composed of five subscales that have been used to represent the theorized dimensions of prenatal attachment. Two samples of MFAS scores were submitted to principal axis factoring with varimax rotation. The resulting solutions failed to correspond to the subscales of the MFAS and were also different from one another. These results indicate that the use of the MFAS subscales, as currently constructed, is problematic.