PREDICTORS OF THE INTENTION TO EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEED IN PREGNANT WOMEN

Exclusive Breastfeeding (EB) has many health benefits in the short and long term, both for infants and mothers (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012). The WHO recommends EB for at least the first 6 months of infant life (WHO, 2007). Aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of EB intention during the first 6 months of infant's life considering as a framework the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). 134 pregnant women (mean age=32.5; SD=5,3) completed a questionnaire during the second and third trimester. The questionnaire included the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (α: .81) (De la Mora et al. 1999) and measures of subjective norms (α: .92), perceived behavioral control (PBC; α: .75) and intention to breastfeed in the first 6 months after infant birth (α:.97). The results of the Anovas reveal that attitudes toward EB were significantly more negative among primiparous [F(1,132)=7.711; p<.01] and that they perceived more social pressure to breastfeed [F(1,132)=5.149; p<.05] compared to multiparous. No other significant differences emerges between for the other variables considered (PBC, intention). With the aim to evaluate which determinants predict the intention to EB for the first 6 months, hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results show that attitudes (β=.33; p<.05), subjective norms (β=.27; p<.005) and PBC (β=.29; p<.05) predict exclusive EB intention in the primiparous group [ R2=.48] while age (β=.22; p<.05), attitudes (β=.27; p<.05) and subjective norms (β=.42; p<.01) predict the intention to EB in the multiparous groups [ R2=.54] The TPB provided a useful framework with which to examine the factors underlying breastfeeding intentions. Findings suggest that EB promotion intervention during pregnancy in primiparous and multiparous may differently target attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, when attempting to increase breastfeeding uptake