title: Validation of the Arabic Version of the Infant Feeding Intentions Scale Among Lebanese Women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Infant Feeding Intentions (IFI) scale was shown to reliably measure maternal intentions to initiate breastfeeding and continue exclusive breastfeeding until 1, 3, or 6 months in English and Spanish but not in Arab contexts. Research aim: This study aimed to validate an Arabic version of the IFI scale (IFI-A) and examine its ability to predict exclusive breastfeeding at 1, 3, or 6 months in pregnant Lebanese women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the IFI-A scale were tested on 50 pregnant women (Group 1), whereas its predictive ability was tested on 196 pregnant women (Group 2), who were surveyed monthly about their infants' nutrition method until 6 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The IFI-A scale's Cronbach's alpha internal consistency reliability is .82. Its corrected item-total correlations ranged from .26 for Item 2 ("at least give breastfeeding a try") to .86 for Item 4 ("will be exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months"). Exploratory factor analysis revealed that it is unidimensional. IFI-A scores correlated significantly with exclusive breastfeeding duration in Group 1 ( r = .624; p = .001) and with participants' breastfeeding attitude ( r = .390; p < .001) and previous breastfeeding duration ( r = .237; p = .011) in Group 2, thus confirming its external construct validity. In adjusted analysis, the IFI-A scale predicted exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months, albeit weakly (odds ratio = 1.16; 95% confidence interval [0.99, 1.36]), but not at 1 or 6 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The IFI-A scale is a reliable and valid tool to assess maternal feeding intentions and predict exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months in the Arab context. Further studies are needed in other Arab contexts to confirm our findings.
authors.affiliation: 1 Suliman Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yehya
authors.affiliation: 2 Clinical Research Institute, Biostatistics Unit, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Hani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamim
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Lama
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shamsedine
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Soumaya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ayash
authors.affiliation: 1 Suliman Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Lama
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abdel Khalek
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abou Ezzi
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nabulsi
mesh_terms: D018912:Arabs / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D033182:Intention; D007861:Lebanon; D011247:Pregnancy; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: breastfeeding; infant feeding; instrument validation; intentions; maternal behavior