title: Acculturative type is associated with breastfeeding duration among low-income Latinas.
abstract: We sought to assess the relationship between acculturative type and breastfeeding outcomes among low-income Latinas, utilising a multidimensional assessment of acculturation. We analysed data derived from a breastfeeding peer counselling randomised trial. Acculturation was assessed during pregnancy using a modified Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans scale. Analyses were restricted to Latinas who completed the acculturation scale and had post-partum breastfeeding data (n = 114). Cox survival analyses were conducted to evaluate differences in breastfeeding continuation and exclusivity by acculturative type. Participants were classified as integrated-high (23.7%, n = 27), traditional Hispanic (36.8%, n = 42), integrated-low (12.3%, n = 14) and assimilated (27.2%, n = 31). The integrated-low group was significantly more likely to continue breastfeeding than the traditional Hispanic, assimilated, and integrated-high groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.05, and P < 0.01, respectively). The traditional Hispanic group was marginally more likely to continue breastfeeding than the integrated-high group (P = 0.06). Breastfeeding continuation rates vary significantly between acculturative types in this multinational, low-income Latina sample. Multidimensional assessments of acculturation may prove useful in better tailoring future breastfeeding promotion interventions.
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Public Health, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. donna.chapman@yale.edu
authors.forename: Donna J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez-Escamilla
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017058:Mexican Americans; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011203:Poverty; D011247:Pregnancy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D055815:Young Adult