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Article
Personal Attitudes or Structural Factors? A Contextual Analysis of Breastfeeding Duration
Psychology Of Women Quarterly
  • Nita M. McKinley, University of Washington Tacoma
  • Janet S. Hyde, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Publication Date
12-1-2004
Document Type
Article
Abstract

A personal attitudes model (i.e., infant feeding choices are based on personal attitudes primarily) and a structural factors model (i.e., feeding choices are shaped by the structural contexts of women's lives, as much as personal attitudes) of women's breastfeeding behavior were tested by surveying a longitudinal sample of 548 mostly European American women recruited for the Wisconsin Maternity Leave and Health Project. Personal attitudes (enjoyment of breastfeeding, gender-role attitudes, and work and family salience) accounted for half as much variance in breastfeeding duration for women who were employed outside the home compared to those who were not. For women employed outside the home, both structural variables (length of maternity leave and workplace flexibility) and personal attitudes predicted duration. These results have implications for how we construct the issue of women's breastfeeding decisions.

DOI
10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00156.x
Publisher Policy
pre-print, post-print with embargo
Citation Information
Nita M. McKinley and Janet S. Hyde. "Personal Attitudes or Structural Factors? A Contextual Analysis of Breastfeeding Duration" Psychology Of Women Quarterly Vol. 28 Iss. 4 (2004) p. 388 - 399
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nita_mckinley/5/