Anxiety in Fathers and Father-Infant Attachment

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 1, 51 - 58, 26.03.2025

Gizem Kurtuluş , Büşra Yolcu , Yasemin Hamlacı Başkaya

https://doi.org/10.62425/esbder.1432123

Öz

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the factors associated with anxiety and father-infant attachment in prospective fathers and to determine the relationship between them.
Methods: The population of the descriptive and correlational study consisted of prospective fathers aged 18 years and older in Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital. A total of 106 prospective fathers who met the inclusion criteria were included in the sample. The data were collected face-to-face by distributing the forms to the prospective fathers using the personal information form, prenatal paternal attachment scale and trait anxiety scale.
Results: The level of prenatal paternal attachment is affected by the factors of educational status, economic status, feeling ready for fatherhood, planned pregnancy, the emotion felt when learning that he became a father, harmony with the spouse, the father's accompaniment to the controls, and the negative effect of the change in physical appearance during pregnancy (p<.05). A significant and positive relationship was found between the scores obtained from the time spent on attachment sub-dimension and the scores obtained from the attachment quality sub-dimension of the Prenatal Father Attachment Scale (PFAS) (r=0.546 p<.05). There is also a significant and positive relationship (r=0.26 p<.05) between the scores obtained from the State- Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale and the scores obtained from the sub-dimension of time spent on attachment in the PFAS.
Conclusion: Prenatal attachment process of expectant fathers may vary according to demographic characteristics. Having a desired pregnancy and feeling ready for fatherhood positively affect attachment. The level of anxiety perceived by expectant fathers increases the time spent on attachment.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Father, anxiety, attachment, infant, pregnant

Kaynakça

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