Mental health, bonding, family wellbeing, and family functioning in parents of infants receiving neonatal intensive care

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

To describe self-reported mental health, bonding with the infant, family wellbeing, and family functioning among mothers and non-birthing parents with children receiving neonatal intensive care and to explore factors associated with bonding with the child, family wellbeing, and family functioning. This cross-sectional study included families from three different units in Sweden. Parents received a questionnaire that included self-reported measures of the study variables. In total, 75 mothers and 72 non-birthing parents were included. Nearly 40% of the parents reported anxiety symptoms, whereas depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms were uncommon. Mothers reported more mental health issues than non-birthing parents. In the regression analyses depression was associated with problems with bonding and family wellbeing, no other significant associations were identified. Symptoms of anxiety were common but might be a natural and transient reaction. Identifying depression is important to be able to provide targeted family support.