Development of a Breastfeeding Effectiveness Scale (BES)

Yang, Hyun Joo; Jeong, Min Young; Seo, Ji Min

doi:2016.22.4.264

Korean J Women Health Nurs > Volume 22(4); 2016 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing 2016;22(4):264-274.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2016.22.4.264 Published online December 27, 2016.

Development of a Breastfeeding Effectiveness Scale (BES)

Hyun Joo Yang, Min Young Jeong, Ji Min Seo

¹Department of Nursing, Changshin University, Changwon, Korea.
²Department of Nursing, Masan University, Changwon, Korea. minnung@masan.ac.kr
³College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate breastfeeding effectiveness scale to measure effectiveness of breastfeeding for mothers in the early postpartum period.
METHODS
A conceptual framework was constructed from properties of effective breastfeeding (Yang and Seo, 2011), and item construction was derived from literature review and analysis of the data along with interviews with breastfeeding mothers. Content validity was tested by experts. Each item was scored on a five-point Likert scale. The preliminary questionnaire was administered to 248 breastfeeding mothers. Data were analyzed using item analysis, factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's α.
RESULTS
From the factor analysis, 20 items in seven factors were derived. The factors were identified as mother's satisfaction, suckling, assurance of milk quantity, infant's satisfaction, latching on, infant's feeding desire, and breastfeeding positioning. The seven factors explained 65.1% of total variance, Cronbach's α of the total items was .83 and the factors ranged from .44 to .75.
CONCLUSION
Results of this study suggest that breastfeeding effectiveness scale is a reliable and valid instrument to measure breastfeeding effectiveness of mothers in the early postpartum period.

Key Words: Mother; Breastfeeding; Effectiveness; Scales; Post-partum