Negative affectivity and breast feeding

Ystrom E, Niegel S, Klepp KI, et al. The Impact of Maternal Negative Affectivity and General Self-Efficacy on Breastfeeding: The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. J Pediatr 2008; 152:68-72 Full Text | PDF

Objective: To assess the degree to which mothers’ prepartum personality traits predict breastfeeding status at 6 months postpartum.

Study design: A total of 27,753 mothers completed assessment of negative affectivity (NA) and general self-efficacy (GSE) at gestation weeks 17 and 30 and completed a questionnaire about infant feeding at 6 months postpartum. Feeding status was classified with a cutoff at 6 months in the categories of predominant breastfeeding, mixed breast feeding, and bottle-feeding.

Results: After adjusting for maternal smoking, age, education, cesarean section, preterm birth, primiparity, and external daycare, NA increased the odds of mixed breastfeeding (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 1.32) and bottle feeding (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.14 to 1.53) compared with predominant breastfeeding. GSE decreased the odds of bottle feeding (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.84 to 0.97) but not of mixed breastfeeding (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.04) compared with predominant breastfeeding. The adjusting variables were also predictors of breastfeeding behavior in their own right.

Conclusions: Our results show that NA and GSE are important antenatal predictors of breastfeeding status at 6 months postpartum.

Comments: Even though breast feeding is a natural act, sustaining it until 6 months has been found to be difficult. A recent study (unpublished) done by us in a community setting showed negative past experience of feeding turning out to be a significant risk factor for not continuing breast feeding at 6 months. The current study has a good methodology. The authors have used objective measurement parameters (such as scores/scales) which have not been used in the previous studies of similar nature. VS

Conclusions: Our results show that NA and GSE are important antenatal predictors of breastfeeding status at 6 months postpartum.