Parental Stress Experience and Age of Mothers and Fathers After Preterm Birth and Admission of Their Neonate to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; A Prospective Observational Pilot Study

Pichler-Stachl, Elisabeth; Urlesberger, Pia; Mattersberger, Christian; Baik‐Schneditz, Nariae; Schwaberger, Bernhard; Urlesberger, Berndt; Pichler, Gerhard

doi:10.3389/fped.2019.00439

Cited by 28 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…This contributes to mixed findings as for some parents discussing feelings can help them cope with trauma, but for others, disclosing feelings can bring up negative emotions and make coping more difficult (Bry & Wigert, 2019;Geller, Bonacquisti, & Patterson, 2018). A proportion of parents also had higher levels of stress at discharge, and, as evident in existing research, factors that characterized higher stress levels differed between mothers and fathers (Ionio, Mascheroni, Colombo, Castoldi, & Lista, 2019;Pichler-Stachl et al, 2019). In our study, mothers who had higher stress at discharge were younger and less educated, and fathers were older, had a baby born at younger gestation and had less perceived control over the baby's condition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Predictors of parental stress from admission to discharge in the neonatal special care unit

Hames

Gasteiger

McKenzie

et al. 2020

Child

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Background Exacerbated parental stress during a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit can negatively impact the development of the hospitalized infant, strain the dyadic relationship and put parents at risk for poor mental health. It is therefore important to identify risk factors of stress throughout the duration of a hospitalization. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate sources of stress for mothers and fathers who had a baby in the neonatal special care unit. Methods Parents of 57 singletons and 11 twins (68 infants) admitted to a neonatal special care unit (46% for prematurity) were recruited. Sixty‐four mothers and 20 fathers were assessed at admission, and 60 mothers and 16 fathers at discharge. Participants reported their satisfaction with hospital information and completed the Perceived Stress Scale, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Results Parents demonstrated similar stress trajectories, with stress on average declining over time. Higher maternal stress at admission was associated with a belief that the baby's illness would have a longer timeline, lower perceptions of treatment efficacy and lower satisfaction with the information received from medical staff. Younger age and lower levels of education predicted higher maternal stress at discharge. Fathers had higher stress at discharge when they were older, had a baby born at younger gestation and felt they had less control. At admission, information satisfaction was positively associated with parental beliefs about treatment efficacy and understanding the infant's condition. At discharge, information satisfaction was negatively associated with beliefs about illness severity and the likely time frame of the illness. Conclusion The findings highlight that parents' perceptions of their baby's illness and treatment at admission and discharge have a significant association with stress. Clinical staff can use these factors to identify parents who are at risk of exhibiting a greater level of stress over the hospitalization period.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Predictors of parental stress from admission to discharge in the neonatal special care unit

Hames

Gasteiger

McKenzie

et al. 2020

Child

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“…Especially very low birthweight (VLBW, <1,500 g) (2) preterm infants have an increased risk of mortality and suffer from various complications and neurodevelopmental disabilities (3)(4)(5)(6). The child's entry into life is marked by intense struggle for survival and is accompanied by extraordinary parental stress (7)(8)(9)(10). Parents of these children experience high caregiver burden and restricted subjective physical and mental health (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations Between Parental Occupational Balance, Subjective Health, and Clinical Characteristics of VLBW Infants

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveVery low birthweight (VLBW) infants have an increased risk of mortality and frequently suffer from complications, which affects parental occupational balance. Occupational balance is the satisfaction with one's meaningful activities, which include everyday activities that people need to, want to, and are expected to do. In contrast to work-life balance, the construct of occupational balance addresses different activities equally and it applies to all persons, regardless of whether they are working or not. Parental occupational balance might be related to parents' and VLBW infants' health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate associations between parental occupational balance, subjective health, and clinical characteristics of VLBW infants.MethodsA cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted in six Austrian neonatal intensive care units. Occupational balance and subjective health of parents of VLBW infants were assessed with six self-reported questionnaires. The following clinical characteristics of VLBW infants were extracted from medical records: gestational age, birthweight, Apgar scores, Clinical Risk for Babies II Score, and complications of prematurity. Spearman's rank coefficients were calculated.ResultsIn total, 270 parents, 168 (62%) female and their VLBW infants, 120 (44%) female, were included in this study. Parents' mean age was 33.7 (±6.0) years, mean gestational age of VLBW infants was 27 + 3 (±2) weeks. Associations between parental occupational balance, subjective health, and clinical characteristics of VLBW infants were identified (rs = 0.13 – 0.56; p ≤ 0.05), such as the correlation between occupational areas (rs = 0.22, p ≤ 0.01), occupational characteristics (rs = 0.17, p = 0.01), and occupational resilience (rs = 0.18, p ≤ 0.01) with bronchopulmonary dysplasia of VLBW infants.ConclusionOccupational balance is associated with parents' and VLBW infants' health. Interventions to strengthen parental occupational balance might increase parental health and thereby also improve health and developmental outcomes of their VLBW infants.

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“…As already mentioned, we tested markedly later compared to earlier stress studies at our center ( 6 , 7 ). The goal was to achieve stabilization of stress levels during the first 3–4 weeks of life to better find out a possible influence of ECI consultation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parental stress experience after preterm birth tended to be higher in mothers compared to fathers. In mothers, stress levels increased with increasing maternal age, whereas fathers did not show any significant age dependency of stress ( 6 ). In the present study, we evaluate parental stress levels markedly later compared to the studies mentioned earlier.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, we hypothesized that early contact of the parents of ELGAN with ECI professionals with a piece of standardized information on ECI might be able to reduce parental stress levels measured by the PSS:NICU German at the NICU. We already had performed studies using the PSS:NICU ( 6 , 7 ). In one study, we assessed maternal stress within 72 h after the birth of a preterm infant who had received antenatal consultation by a neonatologist and compared the stress levels with mothers of matched (by gestational age) controls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prospective Randomized Observational Pilot Trial Evaluating the Effect of Information of Early Childhood Intervention on Stress Levels of Parents of Extremely Low Gestational Age Infants at the NICU

Resch

Fröhlich

Murg

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

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It is not known to what extent early information on early childhood intervention (ECI) by ECI professionals reduces or increases stress levels of parents having an extremely preterm infant at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Using an observational pilot study, we gave information on ECI in a randomized matter to parents of an extremely low gestational age newborn (ELGAN) at the chronological age of 3–4 weeks (cases) or not (controls). After informed consent, parents judged the infants at the age of 5–7 weeks with the Parental Stressor Scales: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit [PSS: NICU test has three subscales = “Sights and Sounds” (five items), “Parental Role Alteration” (14 items), and “Look and Behave” (seven items)]. Total scales score and subscales scores were comparable between 13 cases and 13 controls over a study period of 1.5 years. Total scores were 9.32 ± 0.72 in the cases compared to 10.02 ± 0.76 in the controls, (95% CI −6.93 to 4.93). Overall, the cases scored lower in most of the items. Early information on ECI at the NICU was provided to parents with an ELGAN did not result in higher stress levels measured with the PSS: NICU. Whether early information on ECI is a strategy, which might be able to reduce parental stress levels, has to be proven in larger studies.

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Parental Stress Experience and Age of Mothers and Fathers After Preterm Birth and Admission of Their Neonate to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; A Prospective Observational Pilot Study

Cited by 28 publications

References 12 publications

Predictors of parental stress from admission to discharge in the neonatal special care unit

Predictors of parental stress from admission to discharge in the neonatal special care unit

Associations Between Parental Occupational Balance, Subjective Health, and Clinical Characteristics of VLBW Infants

Prospective Randomized Observational Pilot Trial Evaluating the Effect of Information of Early Childhood Intervention on Stress Levels of Parents of Extremely Low Gestational Age Infants at the NICU

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