Exploring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for parents of preterm infants

Kayla Esser; Lesley Barreira; Doug Miller; Paige Church; Nathalie Major; Eyal Cohen; Julia Orkin

doi:10.1093/pch/pxaa003

Exploring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for parents of preterm infants

Paediatr Child Health. 2020 Feb 29;26(1):e1-e3. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxaa003. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Authors

Kayla Esser¹, Lesley Barreira¹, Doug Miller², Paige Church³, Nathalie Major⁴, Eyal Cohen^{1

5}, Julia Orkin^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
² Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
³ Department of Newborn and Developmental Paediatrics, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario.
⁵ Division of Paediatric Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.

Abstract

The start of a parenting journey in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) presents many stressors to parents. Previous research has shown parents of infants admitted to the NICU experience heightened stress, anxiety, and depression. Mental health support varies across Canadian NICUs with mixed results. One promising intervention that has not been explored in the NICU is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a behavioural therapy that has had positive mental health-related outcomes in similar parental populations. ACT differs from previous mental health interventions such as traditional Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as it involves mindfulness and acceptance to increase psychological flexibility. Increased psychological flexibility is linked to greater emotional well-being, a higher quality of life, and decreased stress, anxiety, and depression. There is a need for research investigating the utility of ACT in improving mental health outcomes for parents of preterm infants.

Keywords: Acceptance and commitment therapy; Mental health; Neonatal intensive care units; Parenting; Preterm infants; Psychological stress.