Mothers’ Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Human Milk Banking Scale: A Scale Development Study

Objective: The aim of this investigation is to construct and psychometrically evaluate a novel measurement instrument designed to capture maternal perceptions and attitudes regarding donor milk services.Method: An instrument development investigation was undertaken among mothers between 18-49 years of age with their offspring under sixty months who presented to the pediatric department of Izmir Bakiray University ili Training and Research Hospital.Information about study participants was gathered using a demographic information form and the newly constructed "Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Human Milk Banking".Results: Psychometric evaluation encompassed content validity assessment, dimension reduction through principal axis factoring, structural verification via latent variable modeling, and homogeneity assessment through estimation of coefficient alpha with item-scale correlation analysis.Upon completion of item refinement procedures, the finalized eighteen-item version exhibited superior homogeneity (coefficient alpha=0.925).Sampling adequacy assessment yielded a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient of 0.789, while the Bartlett sphericity examination reached the level of statistical significance (p<0.001).Dimension reduction revealed a tripartite structure accounting for 70.089% of score variability including Communal Encouragement and Behavioral Inclination (=0.943),Informational and Security Consciousness (=0.874), and Personal Evaluations and Reservations (=0.655).Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated satisfactory correspondence between the hypothesized model and observed data (/df=1.818;Comparative Fit Index=0.965;Root Mean Square Error of Approximation=0.064).Time-dependent consistency assessment through repeated applications yielded intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.91-0.93. Conclusion:This scale constitutes a psychometrically sound 18 item-ratng instrument featuring three constituent domains appropriate for capturing mothers' perceptions and attitudes concerning donor milk services.