90

Breastfeeding is recognized to be the ideal form of nourishment for the physical wellbeing of mother and child. The child’s temperament is one of the factors that may explain pursuing breastfeeding. Few instruments are available in French to measure this factor. The objective of the study is to present and validate the French translation of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) scale. The sample consists of 193 primaparous or multiparous women who gave birth in a maternity hospital in Paris. The child’s temperament questionnaire was sent by mail three months after birth. The same questionnaire was sent to a sub-sample of 30 women 15 days later. Analyses were conducted to assess temporal stability, internal consistency, and construct and predictive validity. The different results tend to show a satisfying level of validity in relation to the French version of the scale. This first French-language validation of the IBQ is worth pursuing in order to confirm the scale’s factor structure and contribute to studies supporting mothers in their decision to breastfeed.