Early growth trajectory is associated with psychological stress in parents of infants with congenital heart disease, but moderated by quality of partner relationship.
Amy Jo Lisanti, Nadya Golfenshtein, Jungwon Min and 1 others
PMID 36696826WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of infants with congenital heart disease who never recovered weight after surgery faced much higher stress and trauma symptoms.
Poor partner relationship quality worsened this risk, but parents whose infants never recovered remained at high risk for severe trauma symptoms regardless of their relationship quality.
Key findings
01Parents of infants in the 'never recovered' growth trajectory had four to five times higher odds of high parenting stress and moderate-to-severe post-traumatic stress symptoms compared to those with stable growth.
02Low quality of partner relationship significantly increased the risk of high parenting stress for parents of infants with poor growth trajectories, but did not protect against severe post-traumatic stress symptoms if the infant never recovered weight.
03Parents of infants who never recovered weight had significantly greater odds of experiencing moderate-to-severe post-traumatic stress symptoms over time, irrespective of their partner relationship quality.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was a secondary analysis of a trial, limiting sample size and the ability to adjust for all potential confounders. The participant population was homogeneous, with most parents being White, non-Hispanic, college-educated mothers with private insurance, which may limit generalizability. Data collection stopped at four months post-discharge, so the long-term evolution of parental stress and infant growth beyond this period is unknown. The standard parenting stress index used does not capture stress specifically related to the child's health condition, which may underrepresent certain aspects of parental burden.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The funder did not participate in the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a strong partner relationship protects parents from post-traumatic stress if their infant's growth fails to recover. The study found that parents of infants who never recovered weight remained at high risk for severe trauma symptoms regardless of their dyadic adjustment.