The Association Between the Duration of Breastfeeding in Infancy and Adult Psychopathology: A Cross-Sectional Study in Turkey.

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the association of duration of breastfeeding in infancy and adulthood psychiatric disorders, sexual problems, and clinical features of patients in the Turkish population.

Method: A sample of 166 patients with depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or trauma and stressor-related disorders were consecutively gathered from the outpatient clinic in March-May 2021 in a cross-sectional descriptive study. The patients with a breastfeeding time of fewer than 6 months and equal or more than 6 months were compared in terms of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, scale scores, and current or lifelong psychiatric disorders.

Results: The percentages of the history of psychiatric disorder (p = .009), the number of comorbid psychiatric disorders (p = .020), and the patients diagnosed with current (p = .001) and lifetime (p = .004) panic disorder or lifetime vaginismus (p = .019) were significantly higher in the patients with a breastfeeding time fewer than 6 months compared to the patients with more than 6 months. While the duration of maternal (p = .010) and paternal education (p = .004) was significantly higher, the birth order was significantly lower (p = .010) in the patients with a breastfeeding time of fewer than 6 months compared to the patients with more than 6 months.

Conclusion: Breastfeeding time of more than 6 months seems favorable in terms of the absence of current or lifetime psychiatric disorder, especially panic disorder and vaginismus, compared to the patients with fewer than 6 months.