The Effectiveness of Training Program Based on Virtual Participation on Stress and Anxiety of Parents with Premature Infants Hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Due to lack of physical, emotional and psychological preparation, premature birth may cause a lot of stress for parents and may have consequences for both parents and infants. Since some parents have difficulty participating in face-to-face training programs, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a training program based on virtual participation on stress and anxiety of parents with premature infants

This quasi-experimental study was performed among 80 parents of premature infants admitted to Amirkola Children's Hospital and Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, who were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups with 40 participants in each group. The parents of the intervention group received the content of the virtual participation training program asynchronously in the form of Telegram groups within four days. The control group received no intervention other than the usual methods and support of the ward. Then, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (score 40-160) and the Parental Stress Scale (score 31-155) were completed and compared on the third and seventh days for both groups and on 13th day for the intervention group.

Results showed that parental stress score decreased from (97.118±21.68) to (86.27±00.27) (p<0.001) in the intervention group. In the control group, it changed from (76.103±30.44) to (91.99±31.82), which was not significant. In investigation of the effect of time on parental stress subscales, the mean scores of the questionnaires showed a significant difference from day 3 to day 13 in regard with the components of stressful parental experiences, relationship with the infant and parental role, parental experiences about behavior, appearance and treatment of the infant, and environmental stress (p<0.001). The parental state anxiety score in the intervention group changed from (45.68±4.63) to (46.63±3.54) and in the control group from (46.25±6.38) to (46.83±5.21), and the parental trait anxiety score in the intervention group changed from (43.88±5.91) to (43.97±5.59) and in the control group from (43.18±5.62) to (42.17±6.63), which was not significant.

The results of the study showed that training program based on virtual participation reduces the stress of parents with premature infants.