Psychometric properties of the German version of the pregnancy-related anxiety questionnaire-revised 2 (PRAQ-R2) in the third trimester of pregnancy

• Published in: BMC pregnancy and childbirth Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 242
• Main Authors: Mudra, S, Göbel, A, Barthel, D, Hecher, K, Schulte-Markwort, M, Goletzke, J, Arck, P, Diemert, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 11.07.2019; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Anxiety - diagnosis; Babies; Childbirth & labor; Depression - diagnosis; Fear & phobias; Fear - psychology; Female; Generalized anxiety disorder; Germany; Humans; Investigations; Maternity & paternity leaves; Mental depression; Parturition - psychology; PRAQ-R2; Pregnancy; Pregnancy complications; Pregnancy Complications - diagnosis; Pregnancy Trimester, Third - psychology; Pregnancy-related anxiety; Prenatal; Psychometric properties; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Self Efficacy; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Translations; Validity; Womens health; Young Adult; Germany; Prenatal; PRAQ-R2; Anxiety; Pregnancy-related anxiety; Psychometric properties
• ISSN: 1471-2393; 1471-2393
• DOI: 10.1186/s12884-019-2368-6

Pregnancy-related anxiety (PrA) has been identified as a construct distinct from general stress and anxiety with a negative impact on birth and child outcomes. Validated instruments with good psychometric properties to assess pregnancy-related anxiety in German-speaking expectant mothers are still lacking. The Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire revised for its use independent of parity (PRAQ-R2) assesses fear of giving birth (FoGB), worries of bearing a physically or mentally handicapped child (WaHC) and concerns about own appearance (CoA). The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the PRAQ-R2 in a German sample of pregnant women in their third pregnancy trimester. The PRAQ-R2 and several questionnaires measuring different forms of anxiety as well as depressive symptoms and perceived general self-efficacy were administered cross-sectionally in a sample of nulliparous and parous women (N = 360) in the third trimester of pregnancy. Reliability was satisfactory to excellent for the PRAQ-R2 total scale (Cronbach's α = .85) and the subscales (α = .77 to .90). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis confirmed the three-factorial structure of the instrument. The three factors together explained 68% of variance. Construct validity was confirmed by positive low- to moderate-sized correlations of the PRAQ-R2 total score and the subscales with measurements of anxiety and depression and by negative low correlations with general self-efficacy. The German version of the PRAQ-R2 is a valid and feasible measurement for pregnancy-related anxiety for research and clinical practice.