The Turkish validity and reliability study of the exclusive breastfeeding Social Support Scale

Aim: The aim of this study is to conduct a validity and reliability study of the Exclusive Breastfeeding Social Support Scale in Turkish. Material and Method: The study was designed as a methodological descriptive research. It was conducted with 320 breastfeeding mothers who visited the pediatric outpatient clinics of Dicle University Hospitals and used the breastfeeding room. Data were collected using the "Descriptive Characteristics Data Form" and the "Exclusive Breastfeeding Social Support Scale." Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 25 and AMOS 23 software. Results: As part of the validity analysis, language and content validity were ensured, and meaning equivalence was verified through English-Turkish translation and back-translation. Content validity was tested based on expert opinions, with a Content Validity Index (CVI) of 0.95 at the scale level and 0.80-1 at the item level.Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed factor loadings ranging from 0.615 to 0.905. The scale was grouped into three factors, explaining 79.728% of the total variance.The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.947, with values of 0.943 for the physical subdimension, 0.915 for the emotional subdimension, and 0.942 for the informational subdimension. The total mean score of the scale was 30.92±9.27. Test-retest reliability was assessed with 30 participants over a four-week interval, yielding a correlation coefficient of r = 0.922, p < 0.001. Split-half reliability analysis showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.891 for the first half and 0.932 for the second half, with an internal consistency coefficient of 0.801 between the two halves.The Spearman-Brown and Guttman Split-Half coefficients were both 0.889. Outlier analysis indicated no extreme values in the dataset. Finally, model modifications identified covariance adjustments that improved model fit, resulting in updated fit indices: RMSEA = 0.072, GFI = 0.927, AGFI = 0.88, CFI = 0.975, χ² = 182.665 (p<0.001). Conclusion: The Exclusive Breastfeeding Social Support Scale demonstrated high validity and reliability. These findings suggest that the scale is suitable for use in research within the Turkish population. Keywords: Breastfeeding, social support, breast milk, reliability, validity.