Mothers of preterm and full-term infants on home apnea monitors
B. R. Vohr, A. Chen, C. Garcia Coll and W. Oh
Department of Pediatrics, Brown University, Providence, RI.
We prospectively studied the stress perception of ten mothers of preterm
infants on apnea monitors (birth weight, 1255 +/- 295 g) and ten mothers of
term infants on monitors (3156 +/- 700 g) and compared them with 15 mothers
of preterm infants (1450 +/- 305 g) and 15 mothers of term infants (3360
+/- 595 g) not on monitors. The Life Experience Survey, a stress assessment
questionnaire, and the social support questionnaire of Henderson were
administered to the 50 mothers. Stress perception scores were higher for
mothers of infants on monitors than for mothers of infants not on monitors.
Regression analyses indicated that mothers of infants on monitors
experienced less perceived stress when they received greater support.
Mothers of infants on monitors who experienced less stress reported greater
general life satisfaction and greater satisfaction with parenting.
