title: In search of social support in the NICU: features, benefits and antecedents of parents' tendency to share with others the premature birth of their baby.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate social sharing among 40 parents (20 couples) of hospitalized premature newborns, the social network of addressees with whom they shared their experience, the perceived benefits of this activity and the sources of individual differences.
  
  
  METHODS
  Emotional reaction and attachment status were assessed within 7 days and between 30 and 45 days from birth, respectively. At 3 months of infant's corrected age, parents completed a self-report assessing retrospectively their social sharing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over 80% of the parents felt the need to share the event and actually did within a week; one's own partner was the most preferred addressee. The extent of father's social sharing was mainly related to the newborn's medical risk, while mother's to her own emotional reaction. Guilt and anger were found to lengthen the latency of sharing in mothers and fathers, respectively. Secure attachment status, compared to insecure ones, was found to be the most effective in promoting social sharing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings help to understand why parents differ from each other in their use of social support in the NICU; from a practical standpoint, they highlight important factors which require attention when implementing intervention program in the NICU directed to parents of premature newborns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. D'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara , Italy and.
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Rosalinda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cassibba
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bosco
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papagna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires