The Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS): Development and initial validation

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to design and examine the validity of the Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS) to assess intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences in the postpartum period. METHOD: A convenience sample of 455 mothers whose babies were up to 12 months old completed the MDRS and a series of questionnaires assessing postnatal depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale [EPDS]), childbirth‐related post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD), and general symptoms of dissociation. RESULTS: The final scale consists of eight items tapping two dimensions, intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences, and displays good psychometric properties. Both factors were found to be related to EPDS, PTSD OCD, and general symptoms of dissociation. Primiparous women scored higher than multiparous women on both dimensions, and mothers of infants up to 3 months old scored higher on dissociative experiences than those whose infants were aged 4–12 months. CONCLUSIONS: The MDRS can contribute to the theoretical and practical conceptualization and assessment of these phenomena.