The factor structure of prenatal psychological and psychosocial functioning in first-time expectant parents

To evaluate the psychological and psychosocial functioning of couples undergoing their first pregnancy, 327 couples from Melbourne, Victoria completed measures of depression, anger, anxiety, positive and negative affect, current social support, perceived quality of couple's relationship, and recalled childhood family relationships during the early third trimester of pregnancy. To examine the nature of the pregnant couples' experience of pregnancy, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted separately for males and females. Four similar but not identical clusters were identified for both the men and women. The first large general factor for both sexes was concerned with psychological dysphoria (anxiety, anger and gender role stress). Three group factors were concerned separately with the individual's relationship functioning, their social support from family and friends, and the quality of their recalled childhood family relationships. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated these four-dimensional solutions showed good fit to the data and indicated differences between the female and male underlying structures. The differences between the men and women's factor structure are examined and implications of these findings are discussed.