Psychological and parental functioning of widowed fathers: The first two years.

Widowed parents play a critical role in promoting family adaptation and facilitating their children's adjustment to the loss of a parent; yet the psychological wellbeing of these parents has received scant attention. In this study we examined depressive symptoms and grief intensity in 252 spousally bereaved men with dependent-age children. Participants learned of the study and completed initial surveys at variable time points during their first 2 years of bereavement. Depressive and grief symptoms remained persistently high, with 45% of the sample exceeding screening thresholds for clinically significant depressive symptoms two years after the death of their spouses. In linear regression models, higher intensity or frequency of depression and grief symptoms were associated with poorer psychological adaptation, lower parenting self-efficacy, and lower parenting satisfaction scores. Relationships between fathers' distress and potentially modifiable end-of-life variables regarding their spouses were examined. Notably, those who reported that their wives were at peace with dying had lower depressive and grief scores at various intervals. Overall, the magnitude and duration of the depressive and grief symptoms suggests that widowed fathers' psychological distress does not quickly abate over the first 2 years of bereavement, which may be attributable to the unique set of bereavement challenges facing widowed parents such as facilitating their children's grief, assuming sole parenting responsibilities, and managing a household on their own. The findings underscore the need to further examine emotional distress in widowed parents and how their wellbeing impacts family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal cell contamination of amniotic fluid samples obtained by open needle versus trocar technique of amniocentesis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of maternal cell contamination (MCC) in the open-needle amniocentesis sampling technique compared with the trocar-in-place technique. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 2,498 mid-trimester amniocenteses performed in two tertiary care centres in Canada. The University of Alberta centre used the open-needle (without the trocar) technique and the University of British Columbia centre used the standard (with the trocar in place) technique. Data were gathered regarding the nature of the amniotic fluid, number of needle passes, amniocentesis results, and the occurrence of maternal cell contamination. The statistical analysis used logistic regression, and controlled for the potential confounders of bloody fluid taps and requirement for more than one needle insertion. RESULTS: The incidence of maternal cell contamination was 1.16% with the open-needle technique and 0.78% with the standard trocar-in-place technique (p < 0.315), with a power of 42%. CONCLUSION: The data suggested there is no significant increase in maternal cell contamination with the open-needle versus trocar-in-place techniques of amniocentesis. However, the small sample size, combined with the low prevalence of the outcome of interest (MCC), provides insufficient power to draw firm conclusions about the difference in MCC between the two techniques.