Compensatory Health Beliefs on Breastfeeding Varying by Breastfeeding Status; A Scale Development.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020;
17:ijerph17165759. [PMID:
32784938 PMCID:
PMC7460425 DOI:
10.3390/ijerph17165759]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
AIMS
To examine whether compensatory health beliefs (CHB) on breastfeeding vary as a function of breastfeeding status among mothers of infants.
METHODS
Participants included 773 women aged 18 and older (M = 32.8) who gave birth in the last two years; 445 were breastfeeding exclusively, 165 were breastfeeding partially, and 163 were not breastfeeding. They responded to a survey posted on social media sites' closed groups that focused on post-natal issues. Design was cross-sectional, with CHB as the outcome variable (14 items) and demographics and feeding status as the explanatory variables.
RESULTS
The internal reliability of the CHB scale was α = 0.87. There was a statistically significant difference in the level of CHB between non-breastfeeding women, breastfeeding women, and women who combined breastfeeding with infant formula, so that non- breastfeeding women had the highest level of CHB. There was no significant difference in CHB by either birth experience or demographic characteristics.
CONCLUSION
This study extended CHB to breastfeeding, documenting the minimization of the disadvantages of not breastfeeding by non-breastfeeding women, attempting to neutralize or reduce the cognitive dissonance between non-nursing and optimal infant care. Possible uses of the scale for counselling were suggested, both in the prenatal and post-natal period, proactively bringing forward and addressing ambivalence towards breastfeeding.
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