TY - JOUR
T1 - A Critical Review of Instruments Measuring Breastfeeding Attitudes, Knowledge, and Social Support
AU - Casal, Corrine S.
AU - Lei, Ann
AU - Young, Sera L.
AU - Tuthill, Emily L.
N1 - Funding Information:
ELT and SLY were supported by F31MH099990 and K01 MH098902, respectively, from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2016.
PY - 2017/2
Y1 - 2017/2
N2 - Background: Breastfeeding provides beneficial health outcomes for infants and their mothers, and increasing its practice is a national priority in many countries. Despite increasing support to exclusively breastfeed, the prevalence at 6 months remains low. Breastfeeding behavior is influenced by a myriad of determinants, including breastfeeding attitudes, knowledge, and social support. Effective measurement of these determinants is critical to provide optimal support for women throughout the breastfeeding period. However, there are a multitude of available instruments measuring these constructs, which makes identification of an appropriate instrument challenging. Research aim: Our aim was to identify and critically examine the existing instruments measuring breastfeeding attitudes, knowledge, and social support. Methods: A total of 16 instruments was identified. Each instrument's purpose, theoretical underpinnings, and validity were analyzed. Results: An overview, validation and adaptation for use in other settings was assessed for each instrument. Depth of reporting and validation testing differed greatly between instruments. Conclusion: Content, construct, and predictive validity were present for most but not all scales. When selecting and adapting instruments, attention should be paid to domains within the scale, number of items, and adaptation.
AB - Background: Breastfeeding provides beneficial health outcomes for infants and their mothers, and increasing its practice is a national priority in many countries. Despite increasing support to exclusively breastfeed, the prevalence at 6 months remains low. Breastfeeding behavior is influenced by a myriad of determinants, including breastfeeding attitudes, knowledge, and social support. Effective measurement of these determinants is critical to provide optimal support for women throughout the breastfeeding period. However, there are a multitude of available instruments measuring these constructs, which makes identification of an appropriate instrument challenging. Research aim: Our aim was to identify and critically examine the existing instruments measuring breastfeeding attitudes, knowledge, and social support. Methods: A total of 16 instruments was identified. Each instrument's purpose, theoretical underpinnings, and validity were analyzed. Results: An overview, validation and adaptation for use in other settings was assessed for each instrument. Depth of reporting and validation testing differed greatly between instruments. Conclusion: Content, construct, and predictive validity were present for most but not all scales. When selecting and adapting instruments, attention should be paid to domains within the scale, number of items, and adaptation.
KW - attitudes
KW - breastfeeding
KW - human milk
KW - instruments
KW - knowledge
KW - psychometric analysis
KW - review
KW - social support
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U2 - 10.1177/0890334416677029
DO - 10.1177/0890334416677029
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28135474
AN - SCOPUS:85011591290
VL - 33
SP - 21
EP - 47
JO - Journal of Human Lactation
JF - Journal of Human Lactation
SN - 0890-3344
IS - 1
ER -