Peggy L. Parks

Measuring women's fatigue during the postpartum period.

The Fatigue Symptom Checklist (FSC) (Yoshitake, 1978), developed in Japan, was selected to measure postpartum fatigue among American women. Minor wording changes and a change in the reference time frame were made. Reliability and validity of this modification of the FSC were tested in this reanalysis of data from a longitudinal study of 285 mothers. Internal consistency reliability for the total 30-item FSC was acceptable. Evidence for criterion-related and construct validity was found. Original FSC subscales were not confirmed in these analyses. Using factor analysis, a shortened 10-item postpartum scale and two postpartum subscales, physical and mental fatigue, were identified. LISRAEL confirmatory factor analysis supported the subscales. Results support appropriateness of the total 30-item FSC, the shortened 10-item postpartum scale, and postpartum subscales for measuring postpartum fatigue in American women.

Relationships among Parenting Knowledge, Quality of Stimulation in the Home and Infant Development.

Relationships among parenting knowledge, quality of stimulation in the home environment, and infant developmental performance were investigated in three socioeconomic status groups. The Infant Caregiving Inventory, Home Scale, Griffiths Scale, and Hollingshead Index were used to measure parenting knowledge, quality of stimulation, infant developmental performance, and socioeconomic status, respectively, in 126 families with 6-month-old infants. In low socioeconomic status families, parenting knowledge was significantly associated with quality of stimulation in the home environment, which in turn was significantly related to infant developmental performance. Implications for parent education programs are discussed.

Differences between adolescent and adult mothers of infants

Samples of adolescent and adult mothers of 6-month-old infants were compared on parenting knowledge, quality of stimulation in the home, and family involvement with the infant. Adolescents perceived that care-giving had less influence on infant outcome and they provided a lower quality of stimulation in the home environment than did adults. For both groups, greater knowledge was associated with higher quality of stimulation in the home. Adolescents were more likely to live with their own mother/grandmother, less likely to live with the infants father, and more likely to live in larger households. The adolescents infant was more likely to have daily involvement with the maternal grandmother. Approximately 50% of the fathers in both groups were involved on a daily basis. The fathers were involved to a greater extent if the mother of the infant was an adult. Services to adolescents with infants should include an assessment of family participation in infant care and provide support to the mother.

Use of an Intensity Ratio to Describe Breastfeeding Exclusivity in a National Sample

Breastfeeding behavior in a sample of 1863 mother-infant pairswas examined using data from the 1988 National Maternal-Infant Health Survey. Breastfeeding behavior was operationalized as an intensity ratio, calculated as the number of breast milk feeds (on average in 24 hours) divided by the total number of all liquid feeds (on average in 24 hours), with a range from 0 to 1.0. During the first month postpartum, 61% of the sample reported exclusive breastfeeding, declining to 31% during months 2-3 postpartum and to 13% during months 4-6 postpartum. This declinewas consistent with the linear decline in the mean intensity ratio, .82, .55, and .31, respectively, during the same three time periods. A higher breastfeeding intensity ratio was significantly associated with longer duration of breastfeeding, up to 1 year of life. Intensity ratio, as a measure of exclusivity, is a useful outcome measure for monitoring breastfeeding behavior.

The relationship of observed maternal behavior to questionnaire measures of parenting knowledge, attitudes, and emotional state in adolescent mothers.

Although relationships have been found between maternal psychological characteristics and cognitive and emotional outcomes in children, the behaviors which may mediate these relationships are seldom examined. This is especially true for adolescent mothers, whose children are thought to be at high risk for adverse outcomes. In this study, adolescent mothers in two special programs completed questionnaires measuring perception of the newborn (Neonatal Perception Inventory), knowledge of influences on child development (Infant Caregiving Inventory), and emotional state (General Health Questionnaire); they were also systematically observed while interacting with their infants in a naturalistic situation. Specific maternal behaviors were found to vary with the age of the mother and of the baby. Mothers with neutral or negative perceptions of their infants touched them less than did mothers with positive perceptions. Degree of emotional disturbance was inversely related to the amount of time that the mother looked at her infant while in physical contact.