Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity (PAPA). First validation in Italian samples.

Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity (PAPA). First validation in Italian samples. Baldoni F.1, Matthey S.2, Agostini F.1, Schimmenti A.3, Caretti V.4 1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy 2University of Sydney, Australia 3 Kore University of Enna, Italy 4 LUMSA University, Rome, Italy Background: The assessment of affective disorders in fathers during the perinatal period represents a difficult challenge for clinicians. The Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity (PAPA) (Baldoni et al., 2016) is a new self-report questionnaire for the screening of affective symptoms in fathers during the perinatal period. It has been developed in recent research on perinatal affective disorders and assesses different dimensions of paternal affective problems: anxiety, depression, hostility, relational and couple difficulties, somatic complaints, dangerous behaviors and addictions (smoke, alcohol, drugs, gambling, internet, physical or sexual compulsive and at risk behavior). The PAPA has a simple structure and is very fast and simple to complete. It also considers some ethnic and socio-cultural influences. Aim: This study presents the incoming preliminary data of a multicentric validation study of the PAPA that involved many Italian public services (AUSL Romagna, Cagliari, 15 Alta Padovana, Torino, Foggia, Roma1). Methods: Different samples of fathers and mothers (500 couples, 1000 parents) were involved in the study. All participants, at the VII-VIII months prenatal and at 3 months postnatal, completed the following questionnaires: PAPA (prenatal and postnatal versions), CES-D, SCL-90-R, Analogical Symptom Assessment (ASA), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), EPDS. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 23). Results: Preliminary findings concerning the prenatal period showed significant association between PAPA total scores (P = .05) and single scale scores with many scores on CES-D, SCL-90-R, ASA, PSS and DAS. Discussion: Preliminary data of this Italian validation study confirm the PAPA as a useful tool for the screening of paternal affective disorders in the perinatal period. However, the PAPA doesn’t permit an accurate diagnosis but provides a simple and practical guide for detecting fathers at high-risk of perinatal affective alteration. In these cases, a more in-depth diagnostic assessment and a possible treatment are required. Reference: Baldoni, F., Matthey, S, Agostini, F., Schimmenti, A., & Caretti, V. (2016). Perinatal Assessment of Paternal Affectivity (PAPA): preliminary report on a new screening tool, Infant Mental Health Journal, 37 (Suppl. 1), 132-133.