Why Breastfeed? A longitudinal test of the reasons model among first-time mothers

Abstract

This longitudinal study tested the ability of the reasons model (Meichenbaum & Fong, 1993) to predict the breastfeeding intentions of 317 first-time mothers before and after breastfeeding experience. The reasons model proposes that three levels of reasons for (pro) and against (con) adherence to health-related advice predict intentions: evidence-based (Level I); self-consequential (Level II); and affective, schema-related (Level III) reasons. Path analyses showed that the reasons model was able to predict breastfeeding intentions. Level III reasons most strongly predicted prenatal and early postpartum intentions, whereas Level II con breastfeeding reasons predicted later postpartum intentions. Breastfeeding intentions significantly predicted behavior. This study indicates that the reasons model is valuable for understanding health behavior over time, and that all three levels of reasons should be considered when developing behavior change interventions.

Keywords:

• Reasons model
• breastfeeding
• longitudinal
• behavior change

Acknowledgments

Lynn A. Rempel was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada doctoral fellowship. The Waterloo Region Infant Feeding Study was conducted in collaboration with the Waterloo Region Community Health Department, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

This article is based on a portion of Lynn A. Rempel's doctoral dissertation. Some of these data were presented at the Twentieth Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Diego, CA, March, 1999, and the Sixth International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, Brisbane, Australia, November, 2000. Data from this study are also published in the Journal of Personal Relationships (Rempel & Rempel, 2004).