Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aims to develop and validate the Breastfeeding and Family-Centered Care Assessment Scale (ScaleSc) utilizing the Delphi method and to examine its association with child psychological status. METHODS: Children aged 6-14 years were enrolled as study participants. Through multiple rounds of structured expert consultation, a comprehensive scale encompassing core elements of breastfeeding practices and family-centered care was systematically developed. Concurrently, support vector machine (SVM) and decision tree models were constructed utilizing ScaleSc scores alongside other relevant clinical characteristics of the participants. RESULTS: Multivariate modeling identified higher ScaleSc scores as a significant protective factor against poor psychological status, with the scale demonstrating substantial predictive importance within both computational models. Furthermore, exposure to school bullying (SchBull) emerged as a potent risk factor, exhibiting a markedly elevated odds ratio (OR) of 43.982 within the logistic regression analysis, highlighting its profound detrimental impact on child psychological well-being. The study robustly confirmed the significant influence of breastfeeding practices and family-centered care on child psychological development, demonstrating the ScaleSc's efficacy in quantitatively linking these critical early-life factors to psychological outcomes. CONCLUSION: This research successfully developed and clinically validated the ScaleSc, establishing its significant utility for assessing child psychological status.