Investigation of the effect of perceived social support in the prenatal period on father-infant attachment

Investigation of the Effect of Perceived Social Support in the Prenatal Period on Father-Infant Attachment Aim: The study was conducted to determine the effect of social support perceived by fathers on father-infant attachment in the prenatal period. Material and Method: The research was designed as a mixed method research in which quantitative and qualitative research data were used together. In the analysis of the data, the relations between the variables were modeled by using the relational research method. The word cloud was obtained by making frequency counts of the words obtained from the qualitatively collected data. For the quantitative data of the study, 380 fathers were interviewed and for the qualitative data, 30 fathers were interviewed. The data were obtained by using the "Intrauterine Father Attachment Scale", "Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support", "Demographic Information Form", "Semi-structured Interview Form". The analyzes of the data within the scope of the research were made using the SPSS 25.0 program. Independent Samples T test and One Way ANOVA analysis were used to compare the scale scores in terms of variables. While Pearson Correlation analysis was used to examine the direction of the relationship between scale scores, Multiple Linear Regression analysis was used to examine the effect of perceived social support on father-fetus attachment. Results: It was determined that fathers' perceived social support and bonding levels with their babies in the prenatal period were moderate, and as the perceived social support level increased, the level of attachment with their babies also increased. Conclusion: It was concluded that the social support perceived by the fathers in the prenatal period had a positive effect on attachment. . Keywords: Father-Baby, Father-Infant Attachment, Attachment, Social Support