International Journal of Nursing Education and Research
  • Year: 2026
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue: 1

Psychometric Validation of Breastfeeding Beliefs Evaluation Scale (BBES) among Nigerian mothers living in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

  • Author:
  • Bolarinwa Balikis Omoyemi1,*, Ong Swee Leong2,**, Khatijah Lim Abdullah3,***, Itan Suhana Munira Binti Mat Azmi4,****, Zakariyah Ummulkhair Omolabake5,*****, Soh Kim Lam5, Soh Kim Geok5
  • Total Page Count: 10
  • Page Number: 1 to 10

1 MPH, BSc, PhD Student at Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Terrenganu, Malaysia

2 Associate Prof., PhD, MSc, BNSc, RN, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terrenganu, Malaysia

3 Professor, PhD, MSc, BNSc, Lecturer, Department of Nursing School of Medical and Life Science, Sunway University, Selangor, Malaysia

4 PhD, MSc, BSc, Lecturer, Department of community medicine, Medical Campus, Universiti Sultan Zainal AbidinTerrenganu, Malaysia

5 MSc. BSc. Research Analysist, Student at Knowledge International University (KIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabic

Corresponding Author E-mail: *sefbal4success@yahoo.com

**ongsl@unisza.edu.my

***khatijahl@sunway.edu.my

****ismunira@unisza.edu.my

*****ummuzak@gmail.com.

Abstract

Breastfeeding beliefs not only shape breastfeeding experiences but also play an important role in determining breastfeeding success. To the best of our knowledge, there are currently no conclusive tools to measure breastfeeding beliefs among women of reproductive age at the time of this study. This study carried out psychometric validation of breastfeeding beliefs evaluation scale (BBES) among Nigerian mothers living in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

The BBES was developed and tested on 168 Nigerian mothers from May 2023 to July 2023 using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) as construct validity, predictive validity and reliability to evaluate the adaptability of the scale.

The EFA result revealed five component factors comprising 14 items, explaining 62.65% of the total variance. Factor loadings ranged from 0.60 to 0.82. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.66 and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.001), indicating acceptable construct validity. In the predictive validity, it is discovered that mothers with higher education scored higher in Breastfeeding benefits and associated discomfort. Conversely, they scored lower in non-exclusive & breastfeeding deterrents (p < 0.001). Mothers who do not intend to practice exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months had higher scores in non-exclusive, breastfeeding deterrents and formula feeding.

The BBES 14-item scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring breastfeeding beliefs in some West African countries especially Nigeria. There is a need for educational intervention to facilitate informed breastfeeding beliefs among mothers. Further replication of our findings with a larger sample size to establish a stronger construct is required.

Keywords

Breastfeeding, Beliefs, Exclusive breastfeeding, Mothers, Validity, Tool