모유수유 기간과 유아기 문제행동의 관계: 인지발달의 매개효과를 중심으로

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between breastfeeding duration and preschooler problem behavior, focusing on the mediating role of cognitive development. Methods: The data came from the Panel Study on Korean Children. The study sample included 926 participants. The statistical methods for the data analyses included descriptive statistics analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis, regression analysis, and the Sobel test. Results: Breastfeeding duration predicted preschooler cognitive development, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems after adjusting for potential confounding factors (i.e., sex, SES, temperament, and parenting style). Further, cognitive development fully mediated the relationship between breastfeeding duration and externalizing problems at age 5 years. Conclusion: The results from the current study support the hypothesis that breastfeeding predicts preschooler cognitive development and problem behavior after adjusting for confounding factors. Further, the relationship between breastfeeding duration and externalizing problems was explained via cognitive development. Based on these results, we recommend the practice of breastfeeding for healthy early childhood development.