Psychometric properties of a mainland Chinese version of the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale among postpartum women in China

Abstract

Background: The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) is used to evaluate maternal infant feeding attitude. The breastfeeding rate has declined but no validated instruments to assess infant feeding attitudes or related studies have been available in mainland China. Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a mainland Chinese version of the IIFAS among postpartum women. Methods: Postpartum women (N = 660) were recruited from three university hospitals in Guangzhou in mainland China. The participants completed an IIFAS questionnaire before being discharged and accepted telephone follow-up sessions at 6 weeks and 3 months postpartum. The reliability of the scale was evaluated using intra-class correlations (ICC) for test–retest reliability, correlated itemtotal correlations and Cronbach’s α. The validity of the scale was evaluated using the content validity index (CVI), construct validity using exploratory factor analysis and predictive validity using independent t–tests. Results: The ICC was 0.861. The correlated item-total correlations ranged from 0.262–0.691. Cronbach’s α was 0.623. The CVI was 0.996. Four factors were extracted using exploratory factor analysis and they contributed to 48.69% of the total variance. Conclusions: The mainland Chinese version of the IIFAS scale can be considered a reliable, valid and predictive scale for assessing infant feeding attitudes among women in mainland China. In-hospital scores on the scale were significant predictors of the infant feeding method and breastfeeding duration at 3 days, 6 weeks and 3 months postpartum. Construct validity was confirmed and showed four factors. However, future studies are required to improve the lower level internal consistency of the IIFAS.