Parent–Infant Attachment in Infants with Respiratory Assist Devices Hospitalized in Intensive Care Units: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Hospitalization of an infant in an intensive care unit may disrupt the normal process of parent-infant attachment. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of attachment and determine its related factors in parents of infants with respiratory assist devices. This correlational descriptive study was conducted with 180 parents of infants with respiratory assist devices hospitalized in Mofid Children Hospital in Tehran, Iran. The data gathering instrument consisted of a demographic questionnaire and the Parent-Infant Attachment Questionnaire. The data was analyzed through SPSS version 22. The total score of attachment was 57.43+ and among the dimensions of the attachment questionnaire, the quality of attachment had the highest score. Also in parental and infant demographic variables, the previous history of hospitalization, father's age, and unit type were significantly correlated with attachment score. Moreover, regression results revealed that parent–pediatric attachment score of parents of infants admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit is 1.97 units less than that of the parents whose infants were admitted to NICU. And with the increase in father’s age, the rate of the parent–pediatric attachment to the child decreases by 0.19 and the history of the previous hospitalization leads to an increase in attachment to the infant by 3.76 units. Although the overall score of attachment in the parents of pediatrics dependent on the respiratory devices in the present study was undesirable, but the respiratory assisted device did not affect the parent-pediatric attachment score. Therefore, further studies are recommended to more accurately determine the relevant factors of the parent-pediatric attachment.