Parenting sense of competence among chinese parents of premature infants: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Parenting sense of competence is not only indispensable to the wellbeing of the parents of premature infants, but is also pivotal to the overall development of these infants. This study examined the level of parenting sense of competence and its associated factors in Chinese parents of preterm infants. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed at a university teaching hospital in Fuzhou (China) from December 2021 to April 2022. Data were collected using the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Social Support Rating Scale, Parenting Care Knowledge Subscale, Parenting Care Skill Subscale, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results A total of 401 Chinese parents were included in the analysis. The average parenting sense of competence scale score was 70.93 ± 13.06. After controlling for demographic characteristics, parenting knowledge (β = 0.149, P = 0.013), parenting skills (β = 0.241, P < 0.001), social support (β = 0.184, P < 0.001) and depression (β = −0.272, P < 0.001), were significantly associated with the parenting sense of competence score, and explained 43.60% of the variance in this score. Conclusions Chinese parents of preterm infants were found to have a moderate parenting sense of competence. This could be further improved through efforts aimed at reducing depressive symptoms and increasing parenting knowledge, parenting skills, and social support.

Factors affecting parental role adaptation in parents of preterm infants after discharge: a cross-sectional study

“…Parents of preterm infants demonstrated a moderate level of parental role adaptation in this study. This finding is in line with Huang et al who found that parents of premature infants had a moderate parenting sense of competence ( Huang et al, 2023 ). In addition, some previous qualitative studies have also found that parents of preterm infants have difficulties in their role adaptation ( Murdoch and Franck, 2012 ; White et al, 2017 ; Neel et al, 2018 ).…”

“…It is commonly known that great parenting behaviors and parent well-being are correlated with higher levels of social support (Angley et al, 2015). Huang et al (2023) found that social support is significantly correlated with parenting sense of competence in parents with preterm infants. Similarly, a metasynthesis of qualitative studies revealed that social support following discharge improved parents' confidence and capacity for care (Adama et al, 2016).…”

“…The sample size was estimated using the formula N = Z 2 1-α/2 × σ 2 /δ 2 ( Johnston et al, 2019 ) assuming a type I error (α) of 5%. The standard deviation (σ) and precision level (δ) were calculated to be 13.06 and 1.71, respectively, based on a previous investigation ( Huang et al, 2023 ). Therefore, the minimum sample size needed was 225 (1.96 2 × 13.06 2 /1.71 2 ), which was increased to 270 accounting for a potential 20% attrition rate.…”

Maternal expectations and paternal self-efficacy as factors associated with the occurrence of depressive symptoms in parents after childbirth.

“…Because the parenting sense of competence measured in the current study referred to the judgments that parents hold about their abilities as caregivers, it may be that lower maternal scores are associated with greater severity of postpartum depressive symptoms, as described above. Such a relationship was noticed in previous studies (Huang et al, 2023;Kossakowska, 2017). However, to correctly interpret these results, factors that were not analyzed and controlled in the present study should be considered.…”

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“…Parents of preterm infants demonstrated a moderate level of parental role adaptation in this study. This finding is in line with Huang et al who found that parents of premature infants had a moderate parenting sense of competence (Huang et al, 2023). In addition, some previous qualitative studies have also found that parents of preterm infants have difficulties in their role adaptation (Murdoch and Franck, 2012;White et al, 2017;Neel et al, 2018).…”