The effect of paternal anxiety on mother-infant bonding in neonatal intensive care

Mark Ettenberger; Łucja Bieleninik; Andreas Størksen Stordal; Claire Ghetti

doi:10.1186/s12884-023-06179-z

The effect of paternal anxiety on mother-infant bonding in neonatal intensive care

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2024 Jan 11;24(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s12884-023-06179-z.

Authors

Mark Ettenberger^{1

2

3}, Łucja Bieleninik^{4

5

6}, Andreas Størksen Stordal^{7

8}, Claire Ghetti^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Music Therapy Service, Department of Social Management, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.
² Music Therapy Service, Clínica de la Mujer, Bogotá, Colombia.
³ SONO - Centro de Musicoterapia, Bogotá, Colombia.
⁴ Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
⁵ GAMUT - The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway.
⁶ Institute of Pedagogy and Languages, University of Applied Sciences, Elbląg, Poland.
⁷ NORCE Technology, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁹ GAMUT - The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway. claire.ghetti@uib.no.
¹⁰ Dept. of Music, GAMUT - The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, The Grieg Academy, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. claire.ghetti@uib.no.

Abstract

Background: The hospitalization of a preterm infant in the NICU can lead to mental health difficulties in parents, but not much is known how paternal anxiety might affect the mother-infant relationship.

Methods: This prospective cohort study is a secondary analysis investigating how paternal anxiety levels might affect maternal bonding in the NICU using the dataset of the multinational pragmatic randomized controlled trial LongSTEP. A linear mixed-effects model was used for correlations of paternal anxiety (GAD-7) and maternal bonding (PBQ) at NICU discharge, and at 6 and 12 months infant corrected age. Secondary analyses examined effects on paternal anxiety related to: site (Argentina, Colombia, Israel, Norway, and Poland), maternal depression (EPDS), infant gestational age at birth, paternal age, and type of pregnancy.

Results: Paternal anxiety did not predict maternal bonding at NICU discharge (p = 0.096), at 6 months (p = 0.316), or at 12 months infant corrected age (p = 0.473). Secondary outcomes showed a statistically significant site effect, with higher paternal anxiety levels at the two Colombian sites at baseline (p = 0.014 and p = 0.020) and for one site at discharge (p = 0.012), but not for paternal age (p = 0.925 and p = 0.793), infant gestational age at birth (p = 0.974 and p = 0.686 and p = 0.340), or type of pregnancy (p = 0.381). Maternal depression predicted paternal anxiety at baseline (p < 0.001) and at discharge (p = 0.003).

Conclusions: In this study, paternal anxiety did not predict maternal bonding. Paternal anxiety varied by site, indicating a need for research on potential cultural differences in manifestation of paternal anxiety. Maternal depression predicted paternal anxiety, confirming a previously reported correlation. Further research on variations in paternal mental health in the neonatal period is warranted, as well as exploration of the social contagion of mental health in preterm parents.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03564184.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Fathers; Mental health; Mothers; Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Anxiety / epidemiology
Anxiety / etiology
Anxiety / psychology
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Premature / psychology
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
Intensive Care, Neonatal*
Male
Mothers* / psychology
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03564184