Development and psychometric testing of the breastfeeding self-efficacy scale

Many new mothers discontinue breastfeeding prematurely. Researchers have sh own that maternal confidence is an important factor in the continuation of breastfeeding. The purpose of this methodological study was to develop and conduct preliminary psychometric assessment of an instrument to measure con fidence in new breastfeeding mothers. Using self-efficacy theory as a conce ptual framework, the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES) was developed and content validity was judged by a panel of experts and through intervie ws with experienced breastfeeding mothers. Following a pilot test, the revi sed BSES was assessed with 130 in-hospital breastfeeding mothers for reliab ility and validity, including internal consistency, principal components fa ctor analysis, comparison of contrasted groups, and correlations with measu res of similar constructs. Support for predictive validity was demonstrated with positive correlations between BSES scores and infant feeding patterns at 6 weeks postpartum. Following further testing, this instrument may be u sed to identify new mothers with low breastfeeding confidence who are at hi gh risk to prematurely discontinue breastfeeding. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Son s, Inc.