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Family reactions during infants' hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit
Michael L Spear1, Kathleen Leef, Susan Epps
1Section of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Christiana Care Health Services, Newark, Delaware, USA.
Insights
Family stress and maternal depression significantly impact coping during infant hospitalization. Infant
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) care
- Parental mental health
- Family coping mechanisms
Background:
- Hospitalization of critically ill newborns presents significant challenges for families.
- Understanding parental stress and coping is crucial for supportive care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess family stress, coping, infant perception, and mood changes in parents of critically ill newborns.
- To explore the relationship between illness severity and family adaptation.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 27 families with infants in the Special Care Nursery (SCN).
- Utilized questionnaires at 2-week intervals.
- Employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)/Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Neonatal Acute Physiology (SNAP) scores.
Main Results:
- High stress scores correlated with different coping strategies.
- Maternal depressive symptoms linked to altered coping, stress, and infant perception.
- No association found between SNAP scores and overall family stress levels.
Conclusions:
- Family stress and maternal depressive symptoms are key factors influencing coping with infant hospitalization.
- The severity of neonatal illness did not significantly impact parental coping ability.
- Healthcare providers should address parental stress and mental health to support families.
Abstract:
The purpose of this investigation is to assess family stress, coping, perceptions of their infant, and alterations in mood that may result from the hospitalization of their critically ill newborn infant. Eligible patients were those infants hospitalized in the Special Care Nursery (SCN) at Christiana Care Health Services, who were born up to 31 weeks' gestational age. Twenty-seven families (mothers and/or fathers) completed four questionnaires at 2-week intervals during the course of their premature infants' hospitalization. Data were primarily evaluated by using analysis of variance (ANOVA)/multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). A score for neonatal acute physiology (SNAP) was obtained in each infant to assess the effect of the severity of neonatal illness on the questionnaire variables. Families with high stress scores on the Parental Stressor Scale had different coping strategies than those with less stress scores. A high level of maternal depressive symptomatology was associated with altered methods of coping, general stress, and perception of infant health. There was no relationship between the SNAP score on the overall level of stress families. Families who completed more than two questionnaires differed from those who only completed two or less questionnaires, although the sample size was too small to assess longitudinal changes in this study population. Level of stress and depressive symptoms are two major influences of how families cope with the current hospitalization of a premature infant. The degree of neonatal illness is not a major contributor to the parents' coping ability. Healthcare providers need to understand these dynamics when supporting families during the hospitalization of their premature infant.