Anna Aftyka1, Ilona Rozalska-Walaszek1, Wojciech Rosa2, Beata Rybojad3,4, Hanna Karakuła-Juchnowicz5,6. 1. Department of Nursing Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland. 2. Department of Applied Mathematics, Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland. 3. Department of Expert Medical Assistance with Emergency Medicine Unit, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland. 4. Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Pediatric University Hospital of Lublin, Lublin, Poland. 5. Department of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland. 6. Ist Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Early Intervention, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence and severity of post-traumatic growth in a group of parents of children hospitalised in the intensive care unit in the past. BACKGROUND: A premature birth or a birth with life-threatening conditions is a traumatic event for the parents and may lead to a number of changes, some of which are positive, known as post-traumatic growth. METHOD: The survey covered 106 parents of 67 infants aged 3-12 months. An original questionnaire and standardised research tools were used in the study: Impact Event Scale - Revised, Perceived Stress Scale, COPE Inventory: Positive Reinterpretation and Growth, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, Post-traumatic Growth Inventory and Parent and Infant Characteristic Questionnaire. RESULTS: Due to a stepwise backward variables selection, we found three main factors that explain post-traumatic growth: post-traumatic stress symptoms, positive reinterpretation and growth and dichotomic variable infants' survival. This model explained 29% of the post-traumatic growth variation. Similar models that were considered separately for mothers and fathers showed no significantly better properties. CONCLUSION: Post-traumatic growth was related to a lesser extent to sociodemographic variables or the stressor itself, and related to a far greater extent to psychological factors. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Our study highlights the fact that post-traumatic growth in the parents of neonates hospitalised in the neonatal intensive care units remains under-evaluated.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence and severity of post-traumatic growth in a group of parents of children hospitalised in the intensive care unit in the past. BACKGROUND: A premature birth or a birth with life-threatening conditions is a traumatic event for the parents and may lead to a number of changes, some of which are positive, known as post-traumatic growth. METHOD: The survey covered 106 parents of 67 infants aged 3-12 months. An original questionnaire and standardised research tools were used in the study: Impact Event Scale - Revised, Perceived Stress Scale, COPE Inventory: Positive Reinterpretation and Growth, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, Post-traumatic Growth Inventory and Parent and Infant Characteristic Questionnaire. RESULTS: Due to a stepwise backward variables selection, we found three main factors that explain post-traumatic growth: post-traumatic stress symptoms, positive reinterpretation and growth and dichotomic variable infants' survival. This model explained 29% of the post-traumatic growth variation. Similar models that were considered separately for mothers and fathers showed no significantly better properties. CONCLUSION: Post-traumatic growth was related to a lesser extent to sociodemographic variables or the stressor itself, and related to a far greater extent to psychological factors. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Our study highlights the fact that post-traumatic growth in the parents of neonates hospitalised in the neonatal intensive care units remains under-evaluated.