AFFECTIVE AND COGNITIVE RESPONSES OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS OF PRETERM INFANTS.
Contributors: University of Pittsburgh.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 121
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: A descriptive study was conducted to determine the feelings and thoughts of mothers and fathers of preterm infants while the infant was in a special care nursery and when the infant was in the home following discharge from the hospital. A comparison of the responses of mothers and fathers between the hospital and home was also addressed. A comparison of the responses between mothers and fathers was also examined.

An open-ended, semi-structured interview was conducted when the infant was 5 days old and in the special care nursery, and again when the infant had been home from the hospital 5 days. Eighteen mother-father dyads were interviewed as a dyadic unit. Each dyad was interviewed twice, for a total of 36 interviews. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Affective and cognitive responses of mothers and fathers were categorized into meaningful sets. A z-statistic was used to examine the differences in proportion of affective and cognitive responses between the hospital and home, and between mothers and fathers.

The affective category was comprised of positive and negative responses. The positive responses were amazement, confidence, love, and well-being. The negative responses were anxiety, fear, helplessness, and sadness. There were more affective negative responses than affective positive responses in the hospital, and more positive than negative responses in the home.

The cognitive category was comprised of three kinds of responses--protection, provision, and attachment. The proportion of total responses that were cognitive increased after the infant was home from the hospital. The proportion of total responses of mothers compared to those of fathers were different in the cognitive category in the home, with mothers showing a greater proportion of total responses in the home in the cognitive category.

Mothers and fathers of preterm infants verbally expressed affective and cognitive responses to questions about their preterm infants. These expressions were present during the hospitalization of the infant and after the infant was in the home.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, Section: B, page: 2369.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, 1986.

School code: 0178.