Turkish Adaptation of Mothers’ Cultural Beliefs About Weaning Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the ‘Cultural Beliefs about Weaning Scale’ among breastfeeding women in the Turkish population. Method: The data of the methodologically designed study were collected by snowball sampling using online method between November 2020 and August 2022. A total of 336 breastfeeding women with children aged 6 months-2 years participated in the study. Descriptive Characteristics Questionnaire and Cultural Beliefs about Weaning Scale were used to collect data. The scale consists of 49 items and 5 subscales. In the validity and reliability analyses of the scale, language, content and construct validity, explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses, internal consistency level and item-total score correlation were evaluated. Results: According to confirmatory factor analysis, 19 items in the original scale were removed from the scale due to low factor loadings and the remaining 30 items were found to be related to the 5-dimensional scale structure. In the factor analysis, the factor loadings of the scale items ranged between .36 and .86. The total Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient was found to be .89. Conclusion: It was determined that the Turkish form of the Mothers' Cultural Beliefs about Weaning Scale can be used as a measurement tool with acceptable validity and reliability results.