Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Acta Paediatrica, International Journal of Paediatrics

Volume

111

Issue

9

First Page

1771

Last Page

1778

PubMed ID

35708125

Publisher

Wiley

School

School of Nursing and Midwifery

RAS ID

44797

Funders

Edith Cowan University (Open access publishing)

Comments

Adama, E. A., Koliouli, F., Provenzi, L., Feeley, N., van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., ... & FINESSE Group. (2022). COVID‐19 restrictions and psychological well‐being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU—An exploratory cross‐sectional study. Acta Paediatrica, 111(9), 1771-1778.

https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16455

Abstract

Aim

To describe the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on the caregiving activities and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to neonatal units.

Methods

Cross-sectional study using adapted COPE-IS and COPE-IU tools. Participants' recruitment occurred online via social media and parents' associations. Online survey in English, French and Italian were distributed and promoted via websites and social media platforms of parent's associations. The study was undertaken across 12 countries in Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe.

Results

A total of 108 fathers of NICU infants completed the survey. COVID-19 related restrictions were categorised into 3 types: no restrictions, partial and severe restrictions. Fathers who experienced partial restrictions reported more involvement in caregiving activities but high levels of emotional difficulties and sleeping problems compared to those who experienced full or no restrictions.

Conclusion

Given the impact on the psychological well-being of fathers, restrictions should be avoided as much as possible in the neonatal unit and fathers given free access to their infants if they follow appropriate infection control precautions.

DOI

10.1111/apa.16455

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Share

 
COinS