Department of Public Health and Policy Studies, College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University, UK.
J Adv Nurs. 2014 Mar;70(3):587-98. doi: 10.1111/jan.12219. Epub 2013 Aug 6.
To explore associations among breastfeeding duration, maternal personality and maternal attitudes and experiences of breastfeeding.
Understanding influences on breastfeeding initiation and duration is critical to increasing breastfeeding rates and supporting new mothers. Maternal characteristics such as self-efficacy, knowledge and confidence are known to enable women to breastfeed, but little is known about the influence of maternal trait personality on breastfeeding.
An exploratory cross-sectional survey.
A total of 602 mothers with an infant aged 6-12 months old completed a self-report questionnaire examining maternal trait personality, breastfeeding duration and attitudes and experiences of breastfeeding. Data were collected between March-June 2009.
Mothers who reported high levels of extraversion, emotional stability and conscientiousness were significantly more likely to initiate and continue breastfeeding for a longer duration. Attitudes and experiences significantly associated with these personality traits such as perceived difficulties and lack of support may explain these patterns. For example, characteristics associated with introversion and anxiety may prevent women from seeking support or challenging negative attitudes of others at this critical time.
Understanding the influence of maternal personality may thus be a useful tool in antenatal support to recognize women who may need extra, directed support while facilitating discussion of potential barriers to breastfeeding.
探讨母乳喂养持续时间、产妇个性与母乳喂养态度和经验之间的关系。
了解母乳喂养开始和持续时间的影响因素对于提高母乳喂养率和支持新妈妈至关重要。众所周知，产妇的自我效能、知识和信心等特征能够使女性进行母乳喂养，但对于产妇特质个性对母乳喂养的影响知之甚少。
探索性横断面调查。
共有 602 名婴儿年龄为 6-12 个月的母亲完成了一份自我报告问卷，调查了产妇特质个性、母乳喂养持续时间以及母乳喂养的态度和经验。数据收集于 2009 年 3 月至 6 月期间。
报告高水平外向性、情绪稳定性和尽责性的母亲更有可能开始并持续母乳喂养更长时间。与这些个性特征相关的态度和经验，如感知到的困难和缺乏支持，可能解释了这些模式。例如，与内向和焦虑相关的特征可能会阻止女性在这个关键时期寻求支持或挑战他人的负面态度。
因此，了解产妇个性的影响可能是产前支持的有用工具，以识别可能需要额外、有针对性支持的女性，并促进对母乳喂养潜在障碍的讨论。
