Posttraumatic growth for parents post-NICU 'under-evaluated'

(HealthDay)—For parents of infants previously hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), posttraumatic growth (PTG) is related to factors such as posttraumatic stress symptoms, positive reinterpretation and growth, and infant survival, according to a study published online Aug. 18 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Anna Aftyka, Ph.D., R.N., from the Medical University of Lublin in Poland, and colleagues surveyed 106 parents of 67 infants aged 3 to 12 months with a premature birth or a birth with a life-threatening condition who had been hospitalized in the NICU. They used an original questionnaire and standardized research tools to examine the incidence and severity of PTG in parents.

The researchers found that three main factors accounted for PTG: posttraumatic stress symptoms, positive reinterpretation and growth, and dichotomic variable infants' survival; this explained 29 percent of the variation in PTG. No significantly better properties were seen in similar models that were considered separately for mothers and fathers.

"PTG was related to a lesser extent to sociodemographic variables or the stressor itself, and related to a far greater extent to psychological factors," the authors write. "Our study highlights the fact that PTG in the parents of neonates hospitalized in the NICUs remains under-evaluated."

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