Stress From the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to Home: Paternal and Maternal Cortisol Rhythms in Parents of Premature Infants.

ABSTRACT: To examine cortisol diurnal rhythms over the transition from the critical care setting to home for fathers and mothers of very low-birth-weight infants, including how cortisol is associated with psychosocial stress and parenting sense of competence. This cohort study in a level III neonatal intensive care unit and the general community had 86 parents complete salivary collection and self-reported psychosocial measures. Salivary samples were collected 3 times a day on the day before discharge, and on 3 subsequent days at home. Self-report measures included the Perceived Stress Scale and the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, which measure parenting satisfaction. Fathers showed increased physiologic stress over the transition home, reflected by flattening of slopes, lower wakeup, and highe

SUBMITTER: Garfield CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5976503 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature