The impact of an individualised neonatal parent support programme on parental stress: a quasi-experimental study.

AIM: To evaluate the impact on parental stress of an individualised neonatal parent support programme. METHOD: A quasi-experimental design. Parents of preterm infants, at a level II NICU, were consecutively assigned to a control group (n = 130) and to an intervention group (n = 101). The programme focused on person-centred communication and consisted of four individual nurse-parent dialogues during the infants' hospitalisation. The Swedish version of the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was used to assess parental stress. RESULT: The total stress scores did not vary significantly between the control and intervention groups either for mothers or for fathers. However, on item-level, some items were significantly more distressed for mothers in the control group compared to the intervention group; other sick babies being cared for in the room (p = 0.016); my baby's unusual or abnormal breathing patterns (p = 0.025); not being able to hold my baby (p = 0.014); sometimes forgetting what my baby looks like (p = 0.042); being afraid of touching or holding my baby (p = 0.030); feeling the staff is closer to my baby than I am (p = 0.006). Comparing stress between mothers and fathers in the control group demonstrated a significant higher overall stress level for mothers compared to fathers (p < 0.005). The same result was found in the subscales Infant's behaviour and appearance (p = 0.016) as well as Parental role alteration (p = 0.001). No significant differences revealed between parents in the intervention group except for one item not being able to feed the babies themselves. It was significantly more distressed for mothers (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In this study, there was a decreased stress experience on item level in different subscales amongst mothers, but the study did not demonstrate any impact of the intervention on total stress experience either for mothers or for fathers.

Translation and psychometric evaluation of a Swedish version of the parental stressor scale PSS: NICU.

AIM: The aim was to translate the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) into the Swedish language and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swedish version. METHOD: The PSS: NICU was translated into Swedish using the process of forward-backward translation. Thereafter, an internal panel of neonatal nurses (n = 10) assessed face and content validity and a panel of parents (n = 10) assessed content validity. A sample of 95 parents recruited from three different neonatal units completed the PSS: NICU and answered some open-ended questions in which they could comment on language and wording. There were eight new items in the PSS: NICU, compared with the very first version of the instrument. These had not been psychometrically tested previously. In this study, the subscales and total scale were analysed both with and without the new items to determine whether or not to use them. Psychometric properties including internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha (if item deleted) and corrected item total were evaluated. RESULT: The result indicates that the Swedish version of PSS: NICU, both with and without the nonvalidated items, has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used in clinical practice in NICUs in Sweden. CONCLUSION: In order to meet the psychological needs of parents, healthcare professionals need to identify risk factors in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that contribute to stress amongst parents. The Swedish version of the PSS: NICU can be used for this purpose.