Social Support, Psychological Distress, and Parenting Strains in Mothers of Very Low Birthweight Infants

Abstract

This study investigated maternal psychological distress, perceptions of social supports, and parenting strains after the birth of a very low birthweight (VLBW) infant. Compared to mothers of term infants, mothers of VLBW infants had significantly higher incidence of psychological distress during the neonatal period, but did not differ from mothers of term infants in their feelings of role restriction, parenting competence, or social supports. Lower general social support predicted high distress levels, but only for mothers of VLBW infants. Mothers with a low sense of parenting competence, but support from spouse/partners reported lower maternal distress.

Relationship of prenatal cocaine exposure and maternal postpartum psychological distress to child developmental outcome

“…It can be both a consequence and a cause of drug use. In these analyses, prematurity was controlled because maternal psychological distress has been found to be related to infant prematurity (Blumberg, 1985;Brooten et al, 1988;Singer, Bruening, Davillier, Hawkins, & Yamashita, 1996).…”

The influence of maternal and child characteristics and paternal support on interactions of mothers and their medically fragile infants

“…Both Lojkasek et al and Traustadottir found that in families of children with a wide range of chronic health problems, mother expected fathers to provide financial support, support the mother's devotion to childcare, participate in decisionmaking on child-related services, and assist with caregiving. Support from fathers was related to more positive maternal parenting of preschool children with developmental delays (Gallagher, Cross, & Scharfman, 1981) and lower maternal distress in mothers of preterms during the neonatal period (Singer, Davillier, Bruening, Hawkins, & Yamashita, 1996). On the other hand, even when the father of a child with severe cerebral palsy provided more support, maternal stress was not affected (Button, Pianta, & Marvin, 2001).…”

Maternal Sensitivity in Parenting Preterm Children: A Meta-analysis

“…10,11 Apart from separation, this is often a stressful time for parents because of the uncertain outcomes for their infants. Preterm birth has been reported to increase the risk of depression in mothers 12,13 and lead to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder 14 and may adversely affect the motherinfant relationship. [15][16][17] Maternal sensitivity has been defined as the mother's ability to infer her infant's signals and respond to them appropriately.…”