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Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy
2025. Vol. 33, no. 2, 124–146
doi:10.17759/cpp.2025330206
ISSN: 2075-3470 / 2311-9446 (online)

Maternal Ambivalence Scale (MAS): the russian adaptation and validization

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The concept of maternal ambivalence is used by psychologists to describe the mixed and contradictory feelings and experiences of a woman in relation to motherhood or a child. The high severity of maternal ambivalence can reach the level of mental health disorders in mothers, which justifies the importance of timely detection and comprehensive psychodiagnostics. Objective. To develop a Russian — language version of the Maternal Ambivalence Scale (MAS) and test its psychometric properties. Hypothesis. The Russian version of the MAS scale has sufficient psychometric properties for its use in scientific and applied purposes. Methods and materials. The study involved 1,392 conditionally healthy women who have one child aged 1 to 35 months (M = 11,31; SD = 5,38). Additionally, psychodiagnostic techniques were used: the Maternity Satisfaction Questionnaire, the DASS-21, the Parental Stress Scale and the Differential Emotion Scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used. Results. Psychometric indicators confirm the reliability and internal consistency, structural and convergent validity of the three-factor model of the Russian version of MAS. Conclusions. The developed, adapted and validated Russian version of the maternal ambivalence scale (MAS) has retained the general structure and semantic equivalence of the original version of the methodology. The scale can be used to assess the severity of the components of maternal ambivalence in women raising children under the age of three and experiencing various difficulties in parenthood.

General Information

Keywords: maternal ambivalence, mother–child dyad, adaptation to motherhood, validation, the Maternal Ambivalence Scale, MAS

Journal rubric: Testing and Validating Instruments

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2025330206

Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful for assistance in data analyzing K.G. Miroshnik.

Received 11.12.2024

Accepted

Published

For citation: Korgozha, M.A., Shvets, D.V. (2025). Maternal Ambivalence Scale (MAS): the russian adaptation and validization. Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 33(2), 124–146. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2025330206

© Korgozha M.A., Shvets D.V., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Maria A. Korgozha, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Acting Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology, Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8422-1772, e-mail: ma.korgozha@gpmu.org

Daria V. Shvets, Laboratory Assistant at the Department of Clinical Psychology, Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2439-246X, e-mail: dv.shvets@gpmu.org

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