Assessing prenatal attachment in a sample of Italian women.\ud \ud The term prenatal attachment refers to the affective investment that parents develop towards the unborn baby during the gestation period. Recent research supports the idea that the early relationship between the woman and the child she’s bearing is related to the quality of postnatal mother–infant interaction and\ud to the improvement of the woman’s health behaviour in pregnancy. This study\ud focuses on the process of the woman’s bonding with her foetus and aims to assess\ud the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of Prenatal Attachment\ud Inventory (PAI). The PAI was translated into Italian and administered to a\ud sample of 214 low-risk pregnant women. As prenatal attachment is supposed to\ud measure the mother’s capability to emotionally invest in the foetus, the Toronto\ud Alexithymia Scale was also administered to assess the pregnant women’s\ud alexithymia level. The results illustrate that the Italian version of the PAI\ud maintains the main psychometric characteristics of the original version.\ud Explorative factor analysis suggested a five-factor structure. The association\ud between low level prenatal attachment and high level alexithymia may be of\ud interest in mother–infant wellbeing promotion programmes.\ud Keywords: attachment theory; alexithymia; prenatal attachment inventor

Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the known risk factors of antenatal depression focusing on the woman's intrapersonal and interpersonal characteristics, particularly her early experience of the parent-child relationship. Background: Starting from a psychodynamic view, where pregnancy is regarded as a period of normal maturational crisis which under unfavourable conditions may lead to psychopathological conditions, it may be important to outline which factors adversely affect the resolution of this phase. Methods:The study is a cross-sectional survey; a series of questionnaires were administered to a sample of Italian, nulliparous and low risk pregnant women to evaluate depression, anxiety, parental bonding and variables concerning the wellbeing of the woman including the quality of relationships with important people in her life. Results: Logistic regression analysis confirmed the role of several known risk factors of antenatal depression (i.e. concurrent anxiety, the presence of stressful events) and yielded two new findings: a relationship characterised by affectionless-control with the mother in childhood and having experienced a mother who had miscarried. Conclusion: The results underline the relevance of the early mother-daughter relationship in the pregnant woman's intrapsychic reorganization of motherhood, emphasising the importance of preventive psychological management as part of prenatal care.

Background: The most common mental disorders in women during the perinatal (antenatal and postnatal) period are depressive syndromes and anxiety syndromes. The global prevalence of maternal perinatal depression ranges from 10 to 20%, while the prevalence of perinatal anxiety ranges from 10 to 24%. The comorbidity of mood and anxiety disorders in perinatal women is common, reaching 40%. In Italy, a few studies have been undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of perinatal depression and anxiety, and there is still a scarcity of research and intervention programs regarding primary prevention. Three of the main aims of this study are: (1) to evaluate the prevalence of maternal perinatal depression and anxiety in a large sample of women attending healthcare centers in Italy; (2) to investigate the psychosocial risks and protective factors associated with maternal perinatal depression and anxiety; (3) to evaluate the effectiveness of a manualized psychological intervention (Milgrom et al., 1999) to treat perinatal depression; (4) to evaluate the psychometric properties of both the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in detecting perinatal depression; and (5) to evaluate the influence of maternal depression and anxiety on the development of infant temperament. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study, which merges an observational design and a pre-post intervention design. The study includes a 1-year recruitment period and a one-year follow-up period. The methodological strategy includes: (1) self-report questionnaires on maternal depression, anxiety, health status, quality of life and psychosocial risks; (2) a self-report questionnaire to measure the infant's

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