The German W-DEQ version B—Factor structure and prediction of posttraumatic stress symptoms six weeks and one year after childbirth

Abstract

The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire is a frequently used measure in the context of childbirth. There are two versions with identical items for use during pregnancy (version A, fear of childbirth) and postpartum (version B, subjective experience) respectively. The original authors report that the measure is unidimensional, but since, very different factor structures have been found with different language versions. In this study, I tested the previously found factor structures in a sample of 338 German new mothers with confirmatory factor analysis. As none showed an adequate fit, I conducted an exploratory factor analysis, which yielded six factors with satisfactory internal consistencies.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Ralph Kästner, Dr. Sabine Schmid, Eva Löser, Dr. Olaf Neumann, and Dr. Stefan Buchholz for the opportunity to collect data at their respective hospitals. Thanks also go to Karl Büter, M.Sc., formerly at Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, for helpful comments on the manuscript.