Validation of the breastfeeding self-efficacy scale applied to Brazilian teenage mothers

• Grant number: 11/22145-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: April 01, 2012 - March 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Obstetrical Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Cristina dos Santos Monteiro
• Grantee: Juliana Cristina dos Santos Monteiro
• Host Institution: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto (EERP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The maternal confidence in the ability to breastfeed has been identified as an important variable that influences the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding. The Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale was developed and validated in its psychrometric properties in order to assess the maternal confidence on breastfeeding among adult women. This study aims to: verify the existence of minimal effect (floor) and maximum effect (ceiling) on the use of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale among teenage mothers; perform the exploratory factor analysis through describing the factorial structure of the set of items of the scale; evaluate the construct validity of the scale in relation to convergent and discriminant validity; and evaluate the reliability of the instrument for internal consistency of its items. The study will be developed with adolescent mothers admitted to the rooming-in of the Reference Center for Women's Health - MATER, in the city of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil. It will be used for data collection an instrument that includes the identification data and socio-demographic and obstetric data of the participants, and the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale which is a Likert-type scale containing 33 questions divided into two areas: Technical and Intrapersonal Thought. Data analysis will be grounded in the psychometric properties of the scale using exploratory factor analysis; multitrait-multimethod analysis using the program Multitrait Analysis Program (MAP); the internal consistency will be checked by the Cronbach alpha. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing, Protocol number 1370/2011. (AU)