Psychometric Assessment of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis in Malawian Mothers

Exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months postpartum has been related to breastfeeding self-efficacy in diverse populations. Globally, this is measured using the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF).

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the BSES-SF among women in Malawi; and to examine the relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy and demographic and health factors.

The study design was a prospective, cross-sectional survey with a 2 week follow-up reliability check. Postpartum women (N = 180) were recruited at a maternity hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. In addition to the BSES-SF, the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Scale (QoL) was also administered. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson's correlations were used to examine the construct validity, reliability, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity.

The confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure of the Malawian version of the 12-item BSES-SF. Cronbach's alpha and the intra-class correlation coefficient were 0.79 and 0.75, respectively. BSES-SF scores had significant correlation with QoL domains (physical QoL: r = 0.31, p < .001; and environmental QoL: r = 0.22, p < .01). Participants' age, parity, and mode of delivery were positively correlated with breastfeeding self-efficacy scores.

The findings of our study confirmed that the 12-item BSES-SF is a reliable and valid scale for assessing women's breastfeeding self-efficacy in Malawi.