Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been demonstrated to exert a detrimental effect on emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, and mental health, which may influence a woman’s ability to form a healthy prenatal attachment during pregnancy. AIM To investigate the relationship between ACEs and prenatal attachment levels among pregnant women. METHODS In this observational study, 367 women aged 18-35 years participated. The collection of data was conducted by means of the Personal Information Form, ACEs Scale, and Prenatal Attachment Inventory. The analyses were conducted utilizing IBM SPSS 25 software. RESULTS The mean age of the pregnant women who participated in the study was 27.08 ± 5.38 years (range 18-42 years), 4.98 ± 3.37 (1-24) years of marriage, 1.22 ± 1.15 (0-6) number of living children, 2.49 ± 1.37 (1-9) number of pregnancies, 34.99 ± 3.89 (26-40 weeks of gestation. A total ACE score mean of 1.70 ± 1.22 was obtained for pregnant participants of the study. This was accompanied by a mean Prenatal Attachment Inventory score of 63.53 ± 3.23. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of prenatal attachment levels in pregnant women. The established model was statistically significant (F = 115.184, P < 0.001), indicating that 56.0% of the variance in prenatal attachment was explained by the determinants. CONCLUSION Results from this study clearly demonstrate that ACEs negatively predict prenatal attachment levels. These findings emphasize that the psychological effects of ACEs during pregnancy need to be addressed more comprehensively.
Source: World Journal of Psychiatry
DOI: 10.5498/wjp.117359
Authors: Hafize Dağ Tüzmen, Bekir Ertuğrul
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7166557325