Running head: ARTICLE CRITIQUE: TPB 1

Article Critique: Breast-Feeding and Planned Behavior Theory

Samantha Poma
Ferris State University
ARTICLE CRITIQUE: TPB 2
Article Critique: Breast-Feeding and Planned Behavior Theory
The article, A Theory of Planned Behavior-Based Structural Model for Breast-Feeding,
explores factors in which can help predict breast-feeding behaviors among women of different
background characteristics (Duckett et. al., 1998). The study was based off of the Theory of
Planned Behavior and consisted of a multicorrelational, prospective, and longitudinal design
(Duckett et. al., 1998). The researchers took a total of 602 mothers and followed them
throughout their breast-feeding course. Participants were to complete an initial dataset and then
were followed up by telephone interview (Duckett et. al., 1998).
Theory
The theory that was used in this article is the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Duckett
et. al., 1998). This theory is the idea that the behaviors can be predicted upon a persons beliefs,
values, and attitudes toward that behavior (Ajzen, 1991). This theory is not a nursing theory, it is
a psychology theory (Ajzen, 1991). Although this is true, it is an acceptable theory to use. This
is because, many other research designs and nursing practices can be based off of or described by
other theorys that are not nursing theories (Nieswiadomy, 2012, p 93). In this article, the
authors use this theory to describe breast-feeding behavior among women and the factors that
predict the outcome of this occurring (Duckett et. al., 1998).
For study purposes, the theory was modified and broken down into three categories. The
three categories consist of homemakers (TPB-BrF), women employed more than half-time (TPB-
BrF/EL), and women employed half-time or less (TPB-BrF/EM; Duckett et. al., 1998). The
groups help identify which characteristics and factors lead to the behavior of breast-feeding
(Duckett et. al., 1998).
Methods and Findings
ARTICLE CRITIQUE: TPB 3
The study design was multicorrelational, prospective, and longitudinal. The participants
were new mothers from a large private hospital in a major city (Duckett et. al., 1998). All new
mothers were asked to participate by receiving data sets that measured background
characteristics (Duckett et. al., 1998). From this information, the women were broken into three
different theory categories.
The women that finished the consent forms and data sets were then followed up at 1, 3, 6,
9, and 12 months postpartum by pone to define their breast-feeding period (Duckett et. al., 1998).
If the mother was still breast-feeding after 12 months, phone interviews continued every three
months after until breast-feeding was discontinued (Duckett et. al., 1998).
From this research, it was concluded that the theory (TPB-BrF) based model can be a
useful tool in, understanding the personal motivational components of breast-feeding
behavior (Duckett et. al., 1998). The theory in this study lead the researchers to use the methods
that they did. The methods gathered information about the participants motivation components
(Duckett et. al., 1998). They were categorized in a way that each motivation categories could be
compared to one another to describe and explain the behaviors seen. The methods of assessing a
patient for motivational components can help a nurse decipher what patients have highest
potential of breast-feeding.
Credibility
The researchers within the study are nurses, have been nurses, and/or has taught nursing
classes. They are all knowledgeable about nursing in some way but, they are not all specialized
in the obstetric, neonatal, or pediatric nursing. These authors used a total of 62 references. The
article is also published by The Journal of Nursing Research (Duckett et. al., 1998). The Journal
of Nursing Research is a peer reviewed journal (Publish, 2013).
ARTICLE CRITIQUE: TPB 4
According to the University of Illinois (Appelt et. al., 2006), the hierarchy of nursing
research designs for this study would be placed at a four out of six on the pyramid. This is not
the highest quality of research designs that are used (Appelt et. al., 2006). In this study, a group
of subjects were followed for a period of time while being observed through phone interview
(Duckett et. al., 1998). This is not an experimental study so, it decreases the strength of evidence
to back their data collected (Appelt et. al., 2006).
One large limitation of this study was the small variability in ethnicity (Duckett et. al.,
1998). This limitation lead to the absence of ethnicity comparisons (Duckett et. al., 1998).
Although this limitation existed, they were able to get a wide variability among education and
occupation statuses (Duckett et. al., 1998).
Clinical Relations
This study has an impact on the nursing profession. It is specifically important to those
in who are caring for pregnant or birthing women. It can be helpful when teaching, promoting,
and finding resources for breast-feeding and implementing it in the plan of care. We know that
the more knowledge a patient has on breast-feeding, the higher the chances are that she will
breast-feed her child (Duckett et. al., 1998). An understanding of this study can help depict, by
background characteristics, who is more likely to breast-feed (Duckett et. al., 1998).
Conclusions
Research nursing articles are an important aspect to the nursing profession. In order to
make them useful, we must understand how to critique the articles and relate them to theories in
order to be applied to practice. This leads to an understanding of who and what the study is
about and if it is a reliable source to be used.
ARTICLE CRITIQUE: TPB 5
References

Ajzen, I. (1991, December). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Process, 50(2), 179-180. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/074959789190020T
Appelt, K., Pendell, K., Pappas, C., Willis, L., Clark, M., & Iyer, S. (2006, December 13). Levels
of evidence. In Evidence-Based Nursing. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from
http://ebp.lib.uic.edu/nursing/node/12
Duckett, L., Henly, S., Avery, M., Potter, S., Hills-Bonczyk, S., Hulden, R., & Savik, K. (1998,
December). A theory of planned behavior-based structural model for breast-feeding.
Nursing Research, 47(6), 325-336. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://0-
ovidsp.tx.ovid.com.libcat.ferris.edu/sp-
3.10.0b/ovidweb.cgi?&S=CNGDFPKCHMDDMJOENCNKAAOBNEHGAA00&Link+
Set=jb.search.43|11|sl_10
Nieswiadomy, R. M. (2012). Foundations of nursing research (6th ed., p. 323). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Publish ahead-of-print - last updated. (2013). In The Journal of Nursing Research. Retrieved
October 23, 2013, from http://journals.lww.com/jnr-twna/toc/publishahead