Depression and anxiety symptoms of mothers of preterm infants are decreased at 4 months corrected age with Family Nurture Intervention in the NICU.
Preterm delivery can precipitate maternal psychological morbidities. Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) was designed to minimize these by facilitating the emotional connection between mother and infant, beginning early in the infant's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay. We examined depression and anxiety symptoms of mothers of preterm infants at 4 months infant corrected age (CA). One hundred fifteen mothers who delivered between 26 and 34 weeks gestational age were randomized to receive standard care (SC) or standard care plus FNI. Mothers' self-reported depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: CES-D) and state anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: STAI) symptoms were assessed at enrollment, near to term age, and 4 months (CA). At 4 months CA, mean CES-D and STAI scores were significantly lower in FNI mothers compared to SC mothers. Effectiveness of FNI can only be evaluated as an integrated intervention strategy as it was not possible to control all aspects of FNI activities. Although there was considerable loss to follow-up, analyses suggest that resulting biases could have masked rather than inflated the measured effect size for depressive symptoms. FNI may be a feasible and practicable way to diminish the impact of premature delivery on maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA. mgw13@columbia.edu.|Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA. mgw13@columbia.edu.|Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA. mgw13@columbia.edu.|Department of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 40, New York, NY, 10032, USA. mgw13@columbia.edu.
Martha G
MG
Welch
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Meeka S
MS
Halperin
Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Judy
J
Austin
Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Raymond I
RI
Stark
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.|Department of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 40, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Myron A
MA
Hofer
Department of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 40, New York, NY, 10032, USA.|Department of Psychology, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 01267, USA.
Amie A
AA
Hane
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.|Department of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 40, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Michael M
MM
Myers
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Anxiety; Depression; NICU; Nurture; Preterm birth