The emotional toll of early caregiving on mothers: translation and validation of the arabic version of the maternal compassion preoccupation questionnaire (A-MCPQ)

Following childbirth, mothers experience complex changes in their psychological state and social roles. As primary caregivers, they are required to devote substantial time and effort to caring for a highly dependent infant; this process may evoke contradictory responses, ranging from joy and fulfilment to stress and difficulty. This research comprised two studies designed to validate an Arabic version of the Maternal Compassion Preoccupation Questionnaire (the A-MCPQ), which, in the context of infant care, measures maternal compassion responses, including compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and self-compassion, during the postpartum period. Study 1 (N = 222) examined the factorial structure and reliability of the questionnaire, as well as its associations with relevant background variables, in a sample of mothers with infants up to six months of age. Study 2 (N = 200) provided further examination of the questionnaire’s factorial structure and reliability, in addition to assessing its construct validity and associations with postnatal depression, maternal role satisfaction, and psychological flexibility. Confirmatory factor analyses across the two studies supported the questionnaire’s sound psychometric properties. In Study 2, compassion fatigue was positively correlated with postnatal depression and negatively correlated with maternal role satisfaction and psychological flexibility, while compassion satisfaction and self-compassion were negatively correlated with postnatal depression and positively correlated with maternal role satisfaction and psychological flexibility. Overall, the A-MCPQ appears to be a valid and promising instrument for capturing mothers’ compassionate responses; as such, it contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of maternal inner experiences and mental health during the early caregiving period.