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 non- breastfeeding 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 non-breastfeeding women, attempting to neutralize or reduce the cognitive dissonance between non-nursing 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.