Psychometric properties of the original and short Hungarian version of the Iowa infant feeding attitude scale

Abstract

Background The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) is a widely used tool to assess attitudes towards infant feeding. Attitudes towards breastfeeding are one of the main influencing factors of feeding choice and breastfeeding duration. Adaptation of the IIFAS to the Hungarian context provides an opportunity for cross-cultural comparisons and helps to target breastfeeding support interventions. The growing number of shortened scales in various fields of research, demonstrates the necessity to adapt to a changing context of data collection to avoid fatigue and dropout among respondents. However, international comparisons are difficult due to the lack of a consensual shortened form of the scale. The aim of our study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Hungarian version of the IIFAS (IIFAS-H) and propose an 8-item short version that has appropriate construct validity. Methods The original IIFAS was translated into Hungarian and then translated back to English. A cross-sectional study based on an internet survey in 2019 was conducted among 553 mothers whose most recent child’s age was between 6 and 36 months. Psychometric properties of the Hungarian IIFAS were determined and compared with international results. In order to obtain a shorter version of the Hungarian scale, we preferably kept those items that are common with other international abbreviated IIFAS versions and deleted items with a corrected item-total correlation or factor loading of less than 0.3, where factor loadings came from a principal component analysis forcing the extraction of one principal component (factor). Results The 17-item IIFAS-H showed good psychometric properties with a Cronbach’s alpha of0.73. Further analyses proved that the examined three shortened versions of the IIFAS consisting of 11, 9, and 8 items also showed good properties (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.79, 0.79, 0.76, respectively). Conclusions The Hungarian version of the original 17-item long IIFAS proved to be a good measurement tool with good psychometric properties. Based on our analyses, we suggest the use of the 8-item short version (IIFAS-H8) of the scale.

Mothers’ Attitudes Towards Breastfeeding in Terms of Health Safety and Professional Lactation Education: A National Survey of Women

“…In Spanish mothers, the average score was 69.76 (±7.75), 48 and in Hungarian mothers – 66.76 (±9.0). 49 These results show that women have a neutral attitude towards breastfeeding. However, Greek women obtained higher results, indicating a positive attitude towards breastfeeding: 70.0 (±7.6).…”

Reliability and Validity of the German Version of the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS-G) and relations to breastfeeding duration and feeding method

“…Un t items were de ned as having a negative loading or factor loadings below .30 as proposed by Nunnally and Bernstein (40). The same criterion had been used in the Spanish and Hungarian translations of the of the IIFAS (41,42). Model t was evaluated by Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA).…”

“…These items usually evoke answers with little variance and poor t across many different cultures and are thus oftentimes removed in other translations (36, [41][42][43]47). Item 16 "Breast milk is less expensive than formula" leads to almost universal acceptance, as it states nancial facts rather than attitudes (41,44). In addition, Item 11 "Fathers feel left out if a mother breastfeeds" was poorly associated to maternal attitudes toward breastfeeding, which is consistent with a previous study (44).…”

“…This reduced version is in accordance with the Hungarian, Japanese, Arabic and Persian translations of the IIFAS, as well as the English version administered in Singapore and Canada. All these administrations of the IIFAS scale have excluded at least one of the items also removed in our version(36,41,(43)(44)(45)47). Ungváry et al(41) analysed several shortened versions of the IIFAS with high internal consistency.…”

Determinants of women’s attitudes towards breastfeeding assessed with the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale

“…z 2013 roku pokazało, że wśród matek chińskich mieszkających w Australii wynik skali The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale wynosił 60,0 (± 6,3), z kolei dla matek chińskich mieszkających w Chinach odpowiednio 57,7 (± 5,1) [27]. W innej grupie badanej, jordańskich matek, wynik średni w omawianej skali wynosił 63,5 (± 4,67), wśród Węgierek wyniósł 66,76 (± 9,0), a wśród Hiszpanek klasyfikował się na poziomie 69,76 (± 7,75) [28][29][30]. Porównanie przestawionych wyników z wynikiem średnim otrzymanym w badaniach własnych pozwala zauważyć, że wszystkie wyniki oznaczają średnio neutralne nastawienie kobiet wobec karmienia naturalnego.…”