To validate the Italian Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E), the first questionnaire specifically developed for mothers of preterm neonates hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Two hundred mothers filled the PMP S-E, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Parental Distress Index (PSI-SF/Pd). The Explanatory Factor Analysis outlined four factors: care-taking procedures, evoking behaviours, reading and managing bodily cues, reading and managing emotional cues. This factor-solution demonstrated adequate goodness of fit when the Confirmatory Factor Analysis was carried out. Internal consistency was high for the overall scale (α = 0.932), and the all the factors (all α > 0.80). There was a moderate correlation with GSES (r = .438; p < .001), while the associations with EPDS (r = .295; p < .001) and PSI-SF/Pd (r = .193; p = .006) were low. Good test-retest reliability was found over 2 weeks (r = .73; p < .001). These findings support the validity and reliability of the Italian PMP S-E.
Keywords: Neonatal intensive care unit; Parental stress; Parenting self-efficacy; Perinatal depression; Premature; Preterm.