Preterm Parents' Stress and Coping Strategies in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a University Hospital of Central Greece

Maria Malliarou; Anni Karadonta; Spyros Mitroulas; Theodosios Paralikas; Stiliani Kotrotsiou; Nikolentzos Athanasios; Pavlos Sarafis

doi:10.5455/msm.2021.33.244-249

Preterm Parents' Stress and Coping Strategies in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a University Hospital of Central Greece

Mater Sociomed. 2021 Dec;33(4):244-249. doi: 10.5455/msm.2021.33.244-249.

Authors

Maria Malliarou¹, Anni Karadonta², Spyros Mitroulas², Theodosios Paralikas¹, Stiliani Kotrotsiou¹, Nikolentzos Athanasios², Pavlos Sarafis¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Nursing, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
² Hellenic Open University, Larissa, Greece.

Abstract

Background: The early birth of a newborn and the hospital care in the intensive care causes stress to parents.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to investigate preterm parents' level of stress and which coping strategies do they use in a Neonatal Intensive care Unit in a University Hospital of Central Greece.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used a group of 82 preterm parents in the Neonatal Intensive care unit in a University Hospital of Central Greece. They were asked to answer a questionnaire with the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU), Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (BRIEF/COPE), Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES). The McNemar test was used to compare fathers 'and mothers' views on psychological support. The paired t-test or the Wilcoxon-signed rank test was used to compare scores between fathers and mothers. The levels of importance are bilateral and the statistical importance was defined as 0.5. For the analysis SPSS 22.0 was used.

Results: The most common cause of admission to NICU was low birth weight. The severity of the preterm's condition was found to be independently correlated with PSS-NICU score due to "sights and sounds" and due to "Infant Appearance and behaviour" in the NICU. The severity of the child's condition and the parents' DSES score were found to be independently correlated to the stress score due to their "parent-infant relationship". Mothers 'and fathers' scores on the dimensions of the Brief-COPE Questionnaire were similar, suggesting a similar way of managing stress. Substance use, religion, humor were found to correlate with total score of PSS-NICU. More specifically PSS-NICU correlated negatively with substance use (r=-0.30 p=0.009) and humor (r=-0.28 p=0.016) while it correlated positively with religion (r=0.29 p=0.011).

Conclusion: Mothers and fathers of preterm need support. Spirituality and religion, helps then face the challenges of having their baby hospitalized in a NICU.

Keywords: DSES; Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; PSS-NICU; preterm neonates; spirituality.