Compensatory health beliefs on breastfeeding varying by breastfeeding status; A scale development

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 nonbreastfeeding 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 nonbreastfeeding women, attempting to neutralize or reduce the cognitive dissonance between nonnursing 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.