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Literature Review On Nicu Stress

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Citation:
Carter, J., Mulder, R., & Darlow, B. (2007). Parental stress in the NICU: the influence of personality, psychological, pregnancy and family factors. Wiley InterScience: Personality and Mental Health, 1(1), 40-50. doi: 10.1002/pmh.4

Purpose of the Study:
The purpose of this study was to first determine factors associated with parental stress with a newborn in the NICU, and then compare these factors and their response between mothers and fathers.
“The objective of this study is to compare sources of NICU stress for mothers and fathers and explore variables associated with NICU stress.” (Background) The parent’s perception of stress (Mother vs father) and the factors that contribute to stress perception were also included.

Conceptual …show more content…

Information collected from the structured interview included: current age, highest level of education, any use of mental health professionals during lifetime, any lifetime history of antidepressant treatment, or alcohol or drug treatment, attitude perception regarding the pregnancy, parental role, marital status, pregnancy history (NICU infant), NICU history (previous admissions), and family income

A self-report questioner was administered at the conclusion of the interview. The Parent Stressor Scale: NICU (PSS: NICU) was the measurement of choice. PSS: NICU focuses on measuring parental perceptions of stressors arising from the NICU environment. Four dimensions are emphasized on the questioner including sight and sounds (in the NICU), infant behavior and appearance, staff behavior and communication, and parental role alteration.

Following parental data collection, infant health characteristics were collected. This included infant gestation, weight, current age, and medical diagnosis related to NICU …show more content…

Variables were compared between mother and father using McNemars chi-squared, and paired t-tests.
The associations of these variables were tested using linear mixed-model analysis.

Data Analysis:

Analysis of the collected data focused on the Parental Stress Scale: NICU scores and independent variable interpretation.

Study Findings:
The findings of this study yielded that overall mothers found the NICU environment and situation to be more stressful than reported by the fathers.
The mothers had higher scores on all four subscales of the Parental Stress Scale than the fathers did. Both mothers and fathers gave high scores to parental role alterations of having an infant in the NICU, meaning both parents believed this to be the most stressful

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