Parenting Stress, Parenting Self-Efficacy and Dyadic Coping in Parents of Preterm Infants in China: A Dyadic Analysis.
Yuying Mo, Wanxiang He, Xiaojuan Liu and 1 others
PMID 42464682WHAT IT FOUND
At discharge, parents of preterm infants reported stress associated with lower parenting confidence.
Mothers' positive couple coping was associated with confidence, but fathers' stress did not show the same pathway.
Key findings
01In 120 pairs of parents of preterm infants, higher parenting stress was associated with lower parenting self-efficacy for both mothers and fathers.
02Mothers' positive couple coping was associated with their parenting self-efficacy, and an indirect pathway from stress to self-efficacy through positive coping was reported.
03Negative couple coping did not significantly mediate the association between parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy for either parent.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show that stress caused lower confidence or that coping changed outcomes. Convenience sampling and self-report may bias results; parents who agreed may have been more motivated or less stressed. The sample of 120 dyads was below the recommended threshold of at least 200 dyads for stable complex dyadic mediation estimates. Participants were mainly from economically affluent regions, mainly first-time parents, and included more moderately preterm infants, so it may not apply to other groups. The reported variance explained for parenting stress was modest, so other unmeasured factors may contribute.
Declared interests
This work was supported by Peking University Shenzhen Hospital grant LCYJ2022038. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that teaching parents positive coping will reduce stress or raise self-efficacy. This was a cross-sectional survey of associations, not an intervention trial.