The Impact of a Self-Efficacy Intervention on Short-Term Breast-Feeding Outcomes

• Published in: Health education & behavior Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 250 - 258
• Main Authors: Nichols, Jeni, Schutte, Nicola S., Brown, Rhonda F., Dennis, Cindy-Lee, Price, Ian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2009; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Antenatal; Biological and medical sciences; Breast; Breast Feeding - epidemiology; Breast Feeding - psychology; Breastfeeding; Breastfeeding & lactation; Control Groups; Effectiveness; Feeding; Feeding behavior; Female; Females; Health Education; Health Education - organization & administration; Humans; Infant Care; Infants; Intervention; Maternal and infant welfare; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Mothers; Nutrition; Postpartum; Postpartum women; Predictive control; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prenatal care; Prenatal Care - organization & administration; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Replication; Self Efficacy; Selfefficacy; Short term; Time Factors; Women; intervention; breast-feeding; self-efficacy; Short term; Prognosis; Self efficacy; Evolution; Breast feeding; Health education; Public health
• ISSN: 1090-1981; 1552-6127
• DOI: 10.1177/1090198107303362

Maternal self-efficacy for breast-feeding may contribute to success in breast-feeding. This study aimed to increase breast-feeding self-efficacy and actual breast-feeding through an intervention based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory. A total of 90 pregnant women participated in the study. The women who were assigned to a breast-feeding self-efficacy intervention showed significantly greater increases in breast-feeding self-efficacy than did the women in the control group. Furthermore, at 4 weeks postpartum, women in the intervention group showed a trend toward breast-feeding their infants longer and more exclusively than did those in the control group. Greater increases in breast-feeding self-efficacy were associated with a significantly higher level of breast-feeding. Replicating previous research, breast-feeding self-efficacy was significantly related to concurrent breast-feeding behavior, and high antenatal breast-feeding self-efficacy predicted a higher level of later breast-feeding in control-group women. These findings have implications for breast-feeding support programs and for the potential general utility of self-efficacy-based interventions in health education.