Efficacy of Expressive Writing in Mothers of Preterm Infants

NCT03423914 | Unknown DMC

• 1 other identifier: 10620
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Premature birth can lead the mother to lose control of herself, and be a contributor to the psychological stress experienced due to the sudden breakdown of the interaction with her infant because of hospitalization in a neonatal care unit. This is a mixed method study, the aim is establish the effectiveness of expressive writing in the experience of mothers of hospitalized preterm infants. The intervention Expressive writing therapy could contribute to reduce the level of stress and anxiety, improving coping and the mother's interaction with her infant.

Conditions

Premature Infant; Mothers

Keywords

writing; postraumatic stress; coping

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Posttraumatic stress

  Decreased of stress in mothers. It will be measure using the Postnatal Perinatal Stress Scale, a 14-item questionnaire that examines maternal perinatal post-traumatic stress symptoms specific to childbirth. The scores range between 0 and 14; but a score of 6 would qualify for a diagnosis of PTSD

  fifth day

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Coping and adaptation

  fifth day

Study Arms (2)

Writing Intervention Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Expressive writing The participant will write four days about her deepest thoughts and feelings in relation to the experience of hospitalization of the premature newborn and how this experience is related to your current life and to your future.

Behavioral: Expressive writing

Control Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Only Writing The participants will write about situations not related to the subjective human experience of their preterm birth, but about general aspects.

Other: Only Writing

Interventions

Expressive writing BEHAVIORAL

The emotional or expressive writing therapy developed by James Pennebaker has been used as a method of self-understanding in people with high levels of stress, chronic diseases, sexual and physical abuse, natural disasters and job loss, among others. Expressive writing allows and implies revealing the deepest thoughts and feelings of the person about a stressful or traumatic event in life translate emotions into words, and with that, reduce mental stress (decrease in levels of depression, stress and anxiety), strengthen self-esteem and even strengthen the immune system

Writing Intervention Group

Only Writing OTHER

Participants write about knowledge related to infant care during four days

Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years - 49 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Mothers with:
• Age of 14 or more years old
• Preterm newborns with a gestational age of less than 34 weeks
• Preterm newborns who are hospitalized in the NICU of the third level Hospital of Santander
• Preterm newborns alive at the time of assignment to the control group or intervention group
• The time of hospitalization of the newborn must be at least one week at the hospital.
• Nursing Diagnosis Readiness for enhanced parenting (00164)

You may not qualify if:

• Limitations as hearing, motor and / or mental disability measured through the minimenta test.
• Active consumption of psychoactive substances
• Mothers who can not read or write,
• Mothers of newborns with a confirmed diagnosis of severe diseases like congenital malformations.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad Industrial de Santander: lead

Study Sites (1)

Hospital Universitario de Santander

Bucaramanga, International, 68, Colombia

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Hawes K, McGowan E, O'Donnell M, Tucker R, Vohr B. Social Emotional Factors Increase Risk of Postpartum Depression in Mothers of Preterm Infants. J Pediatr. 2016 Dec;179:61-67. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.07.008. Epub 2016 Aug 5.

  PMID: 27502105 BACKGROUND

• Aftyka A, Rybojad B, Rosa W, Wrobel A, Karakula-Juchnowicz H. Risk factors for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder and coping strategies in mothers and fathers following infant hospitalisation in the neonatal intensive care unit. J Clin Nurs. 2017 Dec;26(23-24):4436-4445. doi: 10.1111/jocn.13773. Epub 2017 Apr 20.

  PMID: 28231614 BACKGROUND

• Yang YY, He HG, Lee SY, Holroyd E, Shorey S, Koh SSL. Perceptions of Parents With Preterm Infants Hospitalized in Singaporean Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2017 Jul/Sep;31(3):263-273. doi: 10.1097/JPN.0000000000000239.

  PMID: 28234668 BACKGROUND

• Wormald F, Tapia JL, Torres G, Canepa P, Gonzalez MA, Rodriguez D, Escobar M, Reyes B, Capelli C, Menendez L, Delgado P, Treuer S, Ramirez R, Borja N, Dominguez A; Neocosur Neonatal Network (Red Neonatal Neocosur). Stress in parents of very low birth weight preterm infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units. A multicenter study. Arch Argent Pediatr. 2015 Aug;113(4):303-9. doi: 10.5546/aap.2015.eng.303. English, Spanish.

  PMID: 26172004 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Premature Birth

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Obstetric Labor, Premature; Obstetric Labor Complications; Pregnancy Complications; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases

Study Officials

• Martha Camargo, RN-MsC

  Associate Professor

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER
• Masking Details: random allocation of the mother to the control or intervention group
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Nursing Professor

Model Details: Mixed study, where the quantitative and qualitative. From the quantitative is an experimental study type controlled clinical trial. From the qualitative it will be interpretive phenomenological

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 18, 2018
• First Posted: February 6, 2018
• Study Start: October 1, 2017
• Primary Completion: July 30, 2018
• Study Completion: November 30, 2020
• Last Updated: February 21, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-02

Locations

CO (1)