MEASUREMENT OF BREASTFEEDING BEHAVIOR BY 24-HOUR RECALL INTERVIEW (PRIMIPAROUS, MOTHERS).
Contributors: University of Florida.
Published: 1995
Number of pages: 203
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Psychometrics.
Description: Existing behavioral measures of breastfeeding are inconsistent across studies and typically lack precision, resulting in a body of knowledge with limited practical usefulness. In an effort to address measurement problems in breastfeeding research, international experts recently developed a multidimensional theoretical framework of breastfeeding behavior and recommended consistent use of this definition in future research. The purpose of this methodological study was to operationalize the breastfeeding behavior definition proposed by experts and develop and initially test a 24-hour recall interview method for breastfeeding behavior data collection.

Eighty primiparous mothers intending to breastfeed participated in 24-hour recall interviews concerning feeding and other child care behavior. Between 4 and 6 weeks postpartum, 70 mothers were interviewed on four occasions. A small subset of the sample also kept diary feeding records during the study.

Information obtained was used to construct quantitative measures of breastfeeding behavior. Content validity of items and the entire instrument was established by clinical nurse experts. Reliability of 24-hour recall data was statistically significant with sufficiently high stability coefficients for the breastfeeding behavior measures across one weekend and two weekday 24-hour recall interviews. Behavioral variables constructed from recall data were precise and sensitive to differences in levels of breastfeeding. Construct validity was demonstrated through hypothesis testing of feeding group differences on known predictor variables of breastfeeding duration.

Goals of nursing practice and research related to breastfeeding directly relate to a national maternal and child health objective of increasing breastfeeding rates at birth through six months of age. The 24-hour recall of breastfeeding behavior may be useful to nurses and others as an assessment tool or research instrument.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: B, page: 6039.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, 1995.

School code: 0070.