Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Asian Journal of Psychiatry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ajp Validation study of Indonesian mother–infant bonding scale Tjhin Wiguna, Raden Irawati Ismail ⁎ Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia – dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Jalan Salemba Raya 6, Jakarta 10430, Indonesia ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Mother-infant bonding MIBS-I Validation ABSTRACT Mother-infant bonding scale (MIBS) is a questionnaire that can be used to elaborate the quality dyad between mother and infant; however it is not validated in Indonesian language optimally. This study aimed to identify the validity and reliability of the MIBS-Indonesian (MIBS-I) version based on Japanese MIBS (MIBS-J) that could be used in general population and hospital setting. Design of the study was cross sectional and involving 150 mother-infant dyads recruited from Growth and Developmental Clinic dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital-Jakarta and Beji Volunteer-Staffed Integrated Health Service (Posyandu)-Depok/West Java. Infant was categorized as children from 0–36 months old. Mother with at least junior high-school background fulfilled MIBS-Indonesian version and also demographic data. SPSS version 21 for Mac and Lisrel 8.8 program for Windows was applied to analyze the data. Results of the study demonstrated that the content validity was good with I-CVI=0.9875 and S-CVI=0.99; and EFA results of 3 components total variance was 57.90% and CFA results showed three factors structure out of eight items and it fullfiled an adequate goodness of fit with each factor CR > 0.7; factor 1:‘desire to love and denial’, factor 2: ‘hate and being closed’, and factor 3: ‘rejection feeling’. Cronbach’s alpha for the eight items of MIBS-I was 0.535. To be concluded, MIBS-I was a multi- dimentional scale with three-factor model and it was confirmed valid and reliable to be implemented in Indonesian children from 0–36 months old. 1. Introduction Mother–infant bonding refers to an emotional bond or reciprocal relationship between a mother and her infant. It begins at the con- ception of the baby in the womb and continues to develop even after the first contact between the mother and the baby for several years. Many studies have suggested that the term ‘parent–children bonding’ refers to a long-term process of the development of an emotional bond between children and their parents, which starts since they are in the womb of the mother. Thus, the following can be concluded: (1) Systematic changes occur in maternal response soon after the baby is born, such as feelings of happiness, sadness, or worry, or other emo- tional responses that occur due to the new responsibilities that must be borne immediately after the baby is born, and (2) these feelings have persisting effects on the behaviour of parents in parenting (Kinsey and Hupcey, 2013; Kitamura et al., 2015; Olsson, 2015). Various studies have reported that mother–infant bonding has major impacts on the development of children in the future. Parents form bonds or reciprocal emotional bonds with their babies through pro- viding love, attention, nurturing, protection, and affection, which are in accordance with the needs of babies. Optimal bonding between parents and their babies enables the children to establish healthy attachments with their parents and creates a feeling of security in them. Thus, it is believed to have a positive impact on children’s emotional, social, and cognitive development in the future (Klaus, 2009; Spinner, 1978; Tietz et al., 2014). How mother–infant bonding develops is crucial for babies as well as toddlers. A study reported that babies and toddlers tend to be more easily attached to parents who are sensitive to their needs according to their ages. On the other hand, parents generally require varying time periods due to the various feelings that arise as soon as the baby is born. Some parents can immediately form a strong bond or emotional bond with their babies as soon as they are born, while other parents may require a certain period of time, especially if the babies need to undergo treatments once they are born or if the parents have mental health problems (Ohoka et al., 2014; O’Higgins et al., 2013). Thus, mother–infant bonding is related to the development process of child bonding. These two conditions (bonding and attachment) are influential to further the child’s development, including physical, cog- nitive, emotional, and behavioural development. Newborn babies and toddlers are believed to be unable to develop their own abilities. They need parents/sitters who are competent, pay attention to them, and nurture them with care and affection. Winnicott stated in 1965 that ‘a baby alone does not exist’ (Bowlby, 1977).· Freiberg wrote that https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2019.05.003 Received 24 January 2019; Received in revised form 28 March 2019; Accepted 2 May 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: tjin.wiguna@ui.ac.id (T. Wiguna), ira_ismail@yahoo.com (R.I. Ismail). Asian Journal of Psychiatry 43 (2019) 60–64 1876-2018/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. T