J Educ Res Nurs. 2023; 20(3): 241-247 | DOI: 10.14744/jern.2021.21115

Attachment Status and Social Support Perceptions of Parents with an Infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Canan Uçakcı Asalıoğlu, Şengül Yaman Sözbir
Department of Nursing, Gazi University Faculty of Health Science, Ankara, Türkiye

Background: There has been a limited number of studies investigating the social support perceptions of parents of infants treated in neonatal intensive care units and parent–infant attachment in Türkiye.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social support perceptions and the attachment status of parents who have babies in neonatal intensive care unit.

Methods: This study was conducted descriptively with 154 mothers and 154 fathers of infants treated in the neonatal intensive care unit. To collect the data, the questionnaire form, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MPSSS), and Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI) were used. The means, standard deviation, Student’s t-test, a Mann–Whitney U test, ANOVA, and LSD were used to analyze the data.

Results: The mean score of the mothers on the Maternal Attachment Scale was 98.8 ± 5.2. The mean score of mothers on the MPSSS was 64.1 ± 17.7, and the mean score of fathers was 63.6 ± 15.3. While the study found no correlation between the mothers’ overall MPSSS scores and overall MAI scores, a weak significant positive correlation between their scores in the friends subscale and MAI scores was found. There was a significant difference between the MPSSS significant other subscale score and the feeling of fathers toward their infants; those having higher scores in the subscale of significant other had attachment feelings at a lower level.

Conclusion: It was determined that mothers and fathers have a high level of attachment and social support perception. Parents’ social interactions should not be restricted and nurses should increase parents’ communication with their babies so that their attachment is not adversely affected.

Keywords: Maternal–infant attachment, neonatal intensive care unit, nursing, paternal-infant attachment, social support perception

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