Depressive symptoms and maternal psychological distress during early infancy: A pilot study in preterm as compared with term mother-infant dyads.
J Affect Disord
; 257: 470-476, 2019 10 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31310909
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Preterm birth does not only affect infants but also represents an unexpected and traumatic event for parents. There are few reports on parenting stress during early infancy comparing preterm and term mothers, with the results being somewhat inconsistent.METHODS:
As part of a longitudinal study, preterm mother-infant and term mother-infant dyads were enrolled. Dyads were assessed twice during hospitalisation in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and at 3 months of infant age (corrected age for preterm). Each mother completed a self-report set of psychological questionnaire in both time points. All the children underwent a neurological examination at 40 weeks post conceptional age and at 3 months (corrected age for preterm).RESULTS:
20 preterm and 20 term dyads were included. NICU mothers reported elevated postnatal depressive symptoms and high stress level, even if the preterm infants were with low perinatal risk and normal neurological examination. Comparing preterm infant with low perinatal risk and normal neurological examination with term-born children at 3 months, we found higher parental stress in term mothers than in preterm mothers.LIMITATIONS:
This study was limited by a relatively small sample size; findings are preliminary and warrant further investigation in larger-scale study.CONCLUSIONS:
Findings confirm that becoming a mother of a preterm infant is an event associated with emotional distress. These symptoms may resolve with time, and sometimes are independent of the infant's clinical severity. Assessing parental sources of stress and subsequent follow-up is essential to promote parental support, both for preterm and term mothers.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Estresse Psicológico
/
Recém-Nascido Prematuro
/
Depressão
/
Angústia Psicológica
/
Mães
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Newborn
/
Pregnancy
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Affect Disord
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article