Mothers and fathers in NICU: The impact of preterm birth on parental distress
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Ionio, Chiara
Colombo, Caterina
Brazzoduro, Valeria
Mascheroni, Eleonora
Confalonieri, Emanuela
Castoldi, Francesca
Lista, Gianluca
Abstract / Description
Preterm birth is a stressful event for families. In particular, the unexpectedly early delivery may cause negative feelings in mothers and fathers. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between preterm birth, parental stress and negative feelings, and the environmental setting of NICU. 21 mothers (age = 36.00 ± 6.85) and 19 fathers (age = 34.92 ± 4.58) of preterm infants (GA = 30.96 ± 2.97) and 20 mothers (age = 40.08 ± 4.76) and 20 fathers (age = 40.32 ± 6.77) of full-term infants (GA = 39.19 ± 1.42) were involved. All parents filled out the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire. Our data showed differences in emotional reactions between preterm and full-term parents. Results also revealed significant differences between mothers and fathers’ responses to preterm birth in terms of stress, negative feelings, and perceptions of social support. A correlation between negative conditions at birth (e.g., birth weight and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay) and higher scores in some scales of Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States and Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire were found. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit may be a stressful place both for mothers and fathers. It might be useful to plan, as soon as possible, interventions to help parents through the experience of the premature birth of their child and to begin an immediately adaptive mode of care.
Keyword(s)
prematurity NICU parental stress parenting caringPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2016-11-18
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
12
Issue
4
Page numbers
604–621
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Ionio, C., Colombo, C., Brazzoduro, V., Mascheroni, E., Confalonieri, E., Castoldi, F., & Lista, G. (2016). Mothers and fathers in NICU: The impact of preterm birth on parental distress. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(4), 604–621. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1093
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Ionio, Chiara
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Colombo, Caterina
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Brazzoduro, Valeria
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Mascheroni, Eleonora
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Confalonieri, Emanuela
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Castoldi, Francesca
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Lista, Gianluca
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T09:59:47Z
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Made available on2018-11-21T09:59:47Z
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Date of first publication2016-11-18
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Abstract / DescriptionPreterm birth is a stressful event for families. In particular, the unexpectedly early delivery may cause negative feelings in mothers and fathers. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between preterm birth, parental stress and negative feelings, and the environmental setting of NICU. 21 mothers (age = 36.00 ± 6.85) and 19 fathers (age = 34.92 ± 4.58) of preterm infants (GA = 30.96 ± 2.97) and 20 mothers (age = 40.08 ± 4.76) and 20 fathers (age = 40.32 ± 6.77) of full-term infants (GA = 39.19 ± 1.42) were involved. All parents filled out the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire. Our data showed differences in emotional reactions between preterm and full-term parents. Results also revealed significant differences between mothers and fathers’ responses to preterm birth in terms of stress, negative feelings, and perceptions of social support. A correlation between negative conditions at birth (e.g., birth weight and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay) and higher scores in some scales of Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States and Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire were found. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit may be a stressful place both for mothers and fathers. It might be useful to plan, as soon as possible, interventions to help parents through the experience of the premature birth of their child and to begin an immediately adaptive mode of care.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationIonio, C., Colombo, C., Brazzoduro, V., Mascheroni, E., Confalonieri, E., Castoldi, F., & Lista, G. (2016). Mothers and fathers in NICU: The impact of preterm birth on parental distress. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(4), 604–621. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1093
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ISSN1841-0413
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1019
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1211
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1093
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Keyword(s)prematurityen_US
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Keyword(s)NICUen_US
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Keyword(s)parental stressen_US
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Keyword(s)parentingen_US
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Keyword(s)caringen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleMothers and fathers in NICU: The impact of preterm birth on parental distressen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue4
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Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
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Page numbers604–621
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Volume12
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record