BACKGROUND Public health efforts to promote breastfeeding have resulted in many women expecting to exclusively breastfeed their infants. Women who plan to exclusively breastfeed but are not able to do so may experience psychological distress, including poor body image and symptoms of depression. AIM We sought to investigate discrepancies between desired and actual breastfeeding behaviors, appreciation of the functionality of one's body, and self-compassion, in relation to symptoms of depression. METHODS A convenience sample of women (N = 536) who had recently given birth and expected to feed their infants exclusively with breastmilk provided information on an online survey. RESULTS There was an indirect effect of feeding discrepancies on depressive symptoms via lower appreciation of body functionality; women who expected to exclusively feed their infant breastmilk but were not able to do so had lower appreciation of body functionality. The effect of appreciation of body functionality was moderated by self-compassion such that those with the lowest self-compassion had the lowest appreciation of body functionality and the highest depressive symptoms; there was no difference in depressive symptoms for those with the highest levels of self-compassion. CONCLUSIONS Implications of this work include the potential for interventions to bolster body image and self-compassion, which may reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms in this population. Recommendations are provided regarding balancing the importance of increasing breastfeeding rates while also normalizing the challenges of breastfeeding and promoting body positivity and self-compassion.

中文翻译：

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感到失望：对母乳喂养期望、对身体功能的欣赏、自我同情和抑郁症状的调查

背景 促进母乳喂养的公共卫生努力已导致许多妇女期望纯母乳喂养她们的婴儿。计划完全母乳喂养但无法这样做的女性可能会遇到心理困扰，包括糟糕的身体形象和抑郁症状。目的 我们试图调查与抑郁症状有关的理想和实际母乳喂养行为、对身体机能的欣赏和自我同情之间的差异。方法 一个方便的样本（N = 536）最近分娩并希望完全用母乳喂养婴儿，提供了在线调查的信息。结果 通过降低对身体功能的认识，喂养差异对抑郁症状有间接影响；那些希望只用母乳喂养婴儿但不能这样做的女性对身体功能的评价较低。自我同情对身体功能欣赏的影响有所调节，自我同情最低的人对身体功能的欣赏最低，抑郁症状最高；自我同情水平最高的人的抑郁症状没有差异。结论 这项工作的意义包括可能通过干预来增强身体形象和自我同情，这可能会降低该人群出现抑郁症状的可能性。提供了关于平衡提高母乳喂养率的重要性，同时也使母乳喂养的挑战正常化以及促进身体积极性和自我同情的建议。