Overview
Self-efficacy is an individual’s beliefs about their ability to take action or perform a behavior. Self-efficacy is an important determinant of health and nutrition behaviors and is included in several behavioral theories. The strong, positive relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy and optimal breastfeeding practices is well established. While less studied, there is growing evidence about the positive relationship between self-efficacy and complementary feeding practices.
Measures of self-efficacy should be domain specific, as an individual’s self-efficacy differs across behaviors. Studies that have examined the relationship between self-efficacy and complementary feeding have used varying degrees of specificity for measuring self-efficacy, from maternal caregiving in general to a focus on complementary feeding practices.
Measures
- Maternal Self-Efficacy Scale (10 items)
- Mothering Self-Efficacy Scale (6 items)
- Maternal Self-Efficacy for Complementary Feeding Scale (4 items)
This toolkit includes 3 measures.
Maternal Self-Efficacy Scale
Measures mothers’ perceived beliefs regarding their performance of specific caregiving tasks, designed to be highly situation- or domain specific.
Mothering Self-Efficacy Scale
The scale measures the extent to which mothers perceive themselves to be a competent mother. It was adapted from Parenting Sense of Competence Scale and the Parenting Self-Agency Measure.
Maternal Self-Efficacy for Complementary Feeding Scale
The Maternal Self-Efficacy for Complementary Feeding (MSE-CF) scale is composed of four questions related to maternal self-efficacy for (1) feeding family-cooked foods, (2) avoiding feeding store-bought snacks, (3) being able to decide the types of foods fed to the child, and (4) raising a healthy child.
