Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
19:15

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale

Published on: August 25, 2014

86.0K

The Stress Levels of Premature Infants' Parents and Related Factors in NICU

Abdelaziz Hendy1, Salma El-Sayed1, Salma Bakry2

  • 1Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

SAGE Open Nursing
|February 22, 2024
PubMed

Insights

High stress is common for parents with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Factors like mechanical ventilation and prolonged hospitalization significantly increase parental stress, impacting the parent-infant relationship.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) care
  • Parental mental health
  • Infant health outcomes

Background:

  • Parental stress during infant hospitalization is a significant concern.
  • Fathers' experiences are often understudied compared to mothers.
  • Causes of parental stress in the NICU require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine stress levels in parents of premature infants in the NICU.
  • To explore factors associated with parental stress in this population.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional observational study.
  • 743 parents from nine Egyptian NICUs.
  • Utilized parent/infant characteristics and the Parent Stress Scale.

Main Results:

  • 80.3% reported high stress related to sight/sound, 69% to infant appearance, and 81.4% to the parent-infant relationship.
  • 73.6% of parents experienced high overall stress (mean score 167.56).
  • High stress was associated with mechanical ventilation, previous neonatal death, distance from hospital, C-section delivery, low income, and prolonged hospitalization.

Conclusions:

  • Approximately three-quarters of parents experienced high overall stress levels.
  • Mechanical ventilation, previous neonatal death, and socioeconomic factors are significant contributors to parental stress.
  • Interventions addressing these factors are crucial for supporting parents in the NICU.
Abstract

Keywords:
newborn intensive care unitsparentspremature infantstress

More Related Videos

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit11:50

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Published on: January 7, 2020

26.4K
A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies01:37

A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies

Published on: February 9, 2024

390

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
55
Psychoneuroimmunology: Cardiovascular Disease01:27

Psychoneuroimmunology: Cardiovascular Disease

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is a multidisciplinary field that examines how psychological factors, particularly stress, interact with the immune system and impact physical health. Research in PNI has shown that chronic or traumatic stress can disrupt both the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. These disruptions contribute to serious health conditions, including cardiovascular diseases.
A key area of focus in PNI is the relationship between stress and coronary...
30
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
63
Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
11.7K
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia01:29

Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, a complex psychiatric disorder, has been historically misunderstood. Early psychological theories attributed its origins to childhood trauma and unresponsive parenting. However, contemporary research largely rejects these notions, favoring the vulnerability-stress hypothesis. This model proposes that individuals with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia may develop the disorder following exposure to significant environmental stressors. Notably, studies on high-risk...
86
Factors affecting Blood pressure01:28

Factors affecting Blood pressure

Several physiological and lifestyle factors influence blood pressure (BP). Understanding these factors is crucial as they are significant in patient education and blood pressure management.
Physiological Factors:
3.2K