Pilot study on stress and resilience in families with premature newborns

Abstract Introduction Prematurity is associated with severe clinical conditions, long hospital stays, and uncertainty about patient outcomes. These circumstances lead to a stressful situation that may affect family functioning. The aim of this study was to study risk and protection factors affecting family functioning in preterm as compared to healthy term infants. Population and methods Preterm infants with and without pathological conditions ( n  = 40) were recruited at 24 months post-conception age, together with a control group of healthy term newborn infants ( n  = 31). Parents or usual caregivers responded to the Inventory of Family Protection Factors and Parental Stress scales. The results were compared using the Student's t test, unidirectional analysis of variance and the Tukey test. Results Parents of the control group attained higher scores than those of the preterm group for all the items studied; however, parents of preterm infants with pathological conditions perceived significantly less family resilience and more stress related to the upbringing of their child. Conclusions Prematurity itself is a risk factor for family dysfunction because it causes an elevated degree of parental stress and difficulties in the development of protection factors such as resilience.