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The Self-Efficacy in Infant Care Scale (SICS) is a self-administered measure to assess maternal judgments about the ability to care for the baby during the first year of life. The SICS was initially composed of 67 items and was tested on 397 Thai mothers with infants < 12 months old. The test demonstrated adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Factor analysis yielded 42 items with five dimensions of self-efficacy in infant care. With an acceptable model fit using confirmatory factor analysis, a final version of the SICS contained 40 items with four dimensions of self-efficacy in infant care: developmental promotion, general health care, safety, and diet. This preliminary test for the psychometric properties revealed that the SICS has potential uses for both research and clinical purposes. However, the model selected must be viewed as tentative; further refinement is suggested.

Maternal self-efficacy is an important factor in parenting behaviors and skills. In order to assess maternal self-efficacy in infant care, a solid measure is needed. The integrity of the assessment of self-efficacy in infant care depends upon whether or not an instrument possesses proper measurement properties. The purpose of this study was to revise the scale items and examine the further psychometric properties of the Self-efficacy in Infant Care Scale. Using a sample of 235 Thai mothers, the revised Scale, with 44 items, was found to have internal consistency and test-retest reliability values of 0.96 and 0.93, respectively. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized structure. Also, the revised Scale was found to be correlated with a measure of a theoretically related construct; that is, the Parenting Stress Index/Short Form. The psychometric testing results suggest that the revised Scale can be used as an assessment tool for both research and clinical purposes.

The heel stick procedure is the most common painful procedure performed in preterm and full-term neonates. Various nonpharmacologic interventions have been used for pain relief. However, the magnitude of the effect of different interventions has received little attention. In this study, 4 eligible studies conducted in Thailand, focusing on the effects of interventions on pain responses to heel stick procedure in neonates, were obtained for analysis. Swaddling in full-term newborns was found to have the largest mean effect size (dmn = 0.79). However, the moderate-to-large effect sizes (dmn = 0.5-0.75) of positioning in preterm newborns tended to exist throughout the poststick period while the effect sizes of other interventions decreased over time. The effect sizes of these interventions for physiological responses varied.

PurposeExclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates continue to be low in Vietnam. This study aimed to determine the factors predicting 6-month EBF among mothers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was conducted with 259 mothers of infants aged between six to nine months at well-baby clinics in Ho Chi Minh City. The questionnaires used for data collection included personal background questionnaire, perceived benefits of breastfeeding scale, breastfeeding self-efficacy scale-short form, perceived barriers to breastfeeding scale and the family support of breastfeeding scale. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multiple logistic regression were used for data analysis.FindingsAbout 32% of the Vietnamese mothers practiced 6-month EBF. By increasing one unit of perceived benefits of breastfeeding, perceived self-efficacy in breastfeeding and family support, the mothers' likelihood to give 6-month EBF would increase 19% (AOR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.08, 1.31), 12% (AOR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.04, 1.19) and 10% (AOR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.04, 1.16), while previous breastfeeding experience, maternal age and maternal education could not significantly contribute to the 6-month EBF.Originality/valueThis is the first study in Vietnam using a nursing model, the health promotion model, as a framework to identify factors predicting 6-month EBF. An effective program for promoting EBF could be developed by manipulating and tailoring the predicting factors to fit the Vietnamese mothers' needs through a mother class, lactation clinic or individual approach.