Psychometric properties of mother breastfeeding assessment scale in Turkish

Objective: The aim of this study was; The Mother Breastfeeding Assessment Scale, which aims to determine the opinions of mothers about breastfeeding, is adapted to Turkish society. Method:The sample of this study consisted of 200 mothers who took their 1 - 4 month old babies to the pediatric outpatient clinic and accepted to participate in the study.The data were collected between 12.11.2018 / 12.02.2019. The scope validity of the scale was evaluated with the help of four experts in the fields of midwifery and scale. Data were analyzed by number / percentage, correlation analysis, t test, factor analysis and Cronbach α reliability coefficient. Results: The Cronbach's alpha (α) reliability coefficient value of all scale questions was .88; Cronbach's alpha (α) reliability coefficient values of the three sub-dimensions were .82; .80; .86. Item-total score analysis correlations were between .361-.544 (p <.001). In order to determine the invariance of the scale over time, no significant difference was found between the mean scores obtained from the test-retest measurement results after a 4-week interval (p> .05). The exploratory factor analysis showed that the scale explained 57.69% of the total variance and the factor loadings of the items of the scale ranged between .36 and .88. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the factor loadings of the scale were between .42 and .74 and NFI, GFI, CFI, NNFI were> .90 and RMSA was <.080. When the factor analysis related to the construct validity of the scale was conducted, the results were found to be consistent with the model, and confirmed that three sub-dimensional structures, each sub-dimension items defined the factor to which they belong adequately, and the item and sub-dimensions of the scale were related to the scale. Conclusion: As a result of the analyzes and evaluations, the reliability and validity of the Mother Breastfeeding History Scale is highly important. The results of the research can be used for cleaning scale in Turkey. Key words: Breastfeeding, Breast milk; Infant; Validity and Reliability