Maternal Mental Health and Engagement in Developmental Care Activities with Preterm Infants in the NICU

Objective To examine associations between maternal mental health and involvement in developmental care in the NICU . Study Design Mothers of infants born at <32 weeks gestation (n=55) were screened for anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder two weeks after admission. Mothers’ frequency, rate, and duration of developmental care activities were documented in the electronic health record. Group differences between unscreened mothers, and mothers with and without elevated screener scores and developmental care measures were assessed retrospectively. Results 35% of screened mothers scored above the cutoff for clinical concern on ≥1 measure. No significant group differences were identified for rates, frequency, or amount of overall developmental care, kangaroo care, or holding. Conclusion Maternal mental health ratings did not relate to developmental care. Maternal developmental care engagement may not indicate mental health status. Universal screening for psychological distress is required to accurately detect symptoms in mothers of hospitalized preterm infants. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement All phases of this study were supported by the Stanford University 2019 Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Innovator Grants (R. J. Shaw, PI) and the National Institutes of Health- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K.E. Travis, PI; 5R00HD8474904; H.M. Feldman, PI; 2RO1- HD069150). ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The Institutional Review Board of Stanford University gave ethical approval for the experimental protocol (#IRB-54650). All data were collected in the course of routine clinical care. Participants were not required to give consent for this retrospective analysis. The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Deidentified Data will be made available upon reasonable request to the authors.