2002 International International Biennial Scientific Meeting

PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING IN PARENTS OF INFANTS ADMITTED TO A NEW ZEALAND NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT: A STUDY IN PROGRESS

Carter, JD*, Mulder, RT, and Darlow BA

* Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch, New Zealand

janet.carter@chmeds.ac.nz

Objectives: To prospectively recruit and follow a group of parents (mother and father) who have had their infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and compare them with parents of normal infants over a two-year period. This study aims to identify whether the parents of the NICU infants have more persistent difficulties compared to the control parents, and also identify which factors might predict those parents who have significant psychosocial impairment.

Methods: Participants are 448 parents who were randomly selected from the Christchurch Women's NICU and 189 parents with infants born at term who were randomly selected as controls. Areas measured include; psychiatric status, personality, couple relationship, parent-child relationship, life events and social supports. Child factors are collected in a companion study.

Results: At baseline there were no age or education differences in the parents of NICU infants compared to control parents, however, the parents of infants in the NICU did have a lower family income. There were no differences in pregnancy factors expect mothers who had infants in the NICU were more likely to have had a previous NICU admittance (17% of NICU vs. 9% of controls). The fathers of infants in the NICU had more depression and anxiety than the control fathers, but the mothers' level of anxiety and depression were not different at baseline.

Conclusions: The baseline data indicate that overall the parents of NICU infants and control infants are very similar, however some significant differences were apparent in family income, paternal anxiety and depression, and the likelihood of a previous admission to the NICU. The 3-month data collection is near completion and will be presented along with the completed 9-month follow-up analyses.