Validation of a scale to measure fathers' confidence in supporting breastfeeding.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form among Fathers for use in Brazil.

METHODS

This is a cross-cultural adaptation study that began with the translation from the original English into Portuguese, followed by back translation. A committee of experts evaluated the semantic, idiomatic, experiential, and conceptual equivalences. The pre-test of the Brazilian version of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form among Fathers was conducted with 10 fathers whose children were in the breastfeeding period. To assess the psychometric properties, a cross-sectional study was carried out involving 131 fathers with children in the breastfeeding phase. Factor analysis with principal component extraction and item response theory were used in data analysis.

RESULTS

The Brazilian version of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form among Fathers presented an overall Cronbach α of 0.852. Very closely distributed factors explained 55.6% of the total variance in the principal component analysis. The item response theory showed that all questions have discriminatory characteristics.

CONCLUSION

The cross-cultural adaptation process was carried out within validated international parameters and represents a potential instrument for promoting maternal and child health in Brazil.