{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,4]],"date-time":"2026-04-04T11:23:39Z","timestamp":1775301819167,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771286400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771286400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009128","name":"Research for Patient Benefit Programme","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NIHR203154"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIHR203154"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009128","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Severe fear of childbirth (FOC) during pregnancy holds significant implications for maternal mental health, decisions about mode of birth, and potentially infant development. Until recently, there were no tools available to measure FOC within a UK population that assessed the full construct using acceptable phraseology. A new tool, the Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire, has been developed but requires full psychometric evaluation. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire and examine possible threshold scores indicating clinical severity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Material and Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Pregnant women (\n                      <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u2009540) completed the Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire online alongside additional measures for current\/previous obstetric history, anxiety, and depression to test dimensions of validity (ISRCTN62032021). Most women (\n                      <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u2009360) then completed the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (Research Version) Module F (phobia) with trained interviewers over the telephone. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated. A subsample (\n                      <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u200961) repeated Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire completion 2\u2009weeks later to inform test\u2013retest reliability. Internal consistency, validity (convergent, discriminant, and criterion\u2010related), unidimensionality, and factor structure were examined.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Internal consistency was excellent (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b1<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.89;\n                      <jats:italic>\u03c9<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.89) and test\u2013retest reliability was good (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.87). Strong association with the Fear of Birth Scale (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.69) indicated convergent validity. Discriminant validity was indicated via moderate correlations with general measures for anxiety (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u2009\n                      <jats:italic>0.40\u20130.53<\/jats:italic>\n                      ), and less so with those of depression\n                      <jats:italic>(r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.35). Scores were higher for those with current\/previous mental health difficulties, previous birth trauma, those preferring an epidural, and those preferring a planned cesarean section, indicative of criterion\u2010related validity. An optimal cut\u2010off value of \u226533 total score and \u22654 current impact score is recommended to initiate further exploration of support\/intervention needs (ROC Area under the curve\u2009=\u20090.80, 95% CI 0.75:0.85; sensitivity 71.9, specificity 85.4, positive predictive value 39.0, negative predictive value 95.9).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire is psychometrically robust and can identify FOC at levels commensurate with a clinical phobia. It is the only tool purposefully developed and clinically validated to identify FOC in a UK population.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/aogs.70159","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T04:52:04Z","timestamp":1771390324000},"page":"748-757","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Psychometric and clinical validation of the fear of childbirth questionnaire in a\n                    <scp>UK<\/scp>\n                    population"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"105","author":[{"given":"Kayleigh","family":"Sheen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Sciences, College of Health, Science and Society University of the West of England  Bristol UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Hunter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South University of Liverpool  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claire","family":"Lyon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gillian","family":"Houghton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Steven","family":"Lane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health University of Liverpool  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jane","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Terri\u2010Lynn","family":"Quigley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Patient and Public Involvement Lead  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pauline","family":"Slade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South University of Liverpool  Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_14_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/aogs.13138"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/01.grf.0000132527.62504.ca"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1471-0528.2012.03433.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0412.2011.01323.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/hea0001210"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/aogs.14063"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00004583-200212000-00019"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1471-0528.2008.02083.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_10_1","unstructured":"National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.Antenatal care for uncomplicated pregnancies. 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