233 - COVID-19-Related Health Worries Compounds the Psychosocial Stress Experienced by Families of NICU Infants

Poster Board #: 233
Publication #: 2911-HP-QA.233

Background: Parents of NICU infants are more likely to have perinatal mental health problems, with consequences for infant and family outcomes. There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is a major added stressor that adds to the high levels of psychological distress already experienced by NICU families.


Objective: To explore how experiences related to COVID-19-related health worries might moderate the effects of NICU exposure on maternal mental health symptoms.


Design/Methods: Data presented here were obtained through the PEACE Study (Perinatal Experiences and COVID-19 Effects; www.peacestudy2020.com), which was launched in May 2020 to understand the mental health and well-being of pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study enrolled 628 women from May 19, 2020 to September 23, 2020 who gave birth to healthy and hospitalized infants in the previous 6 months. Respondents were asked to participate in a 30-45 minute survey composed of standardized measures assessing COVID-19-related experiences, maternal stress, and well-being.


Results: The self-reported psychosocial and mental health experiences of 565 mothers of healthy infants, and 63 mothers of infants who required NICU hospitalization are outlined in Table 1. Our data identifies being a parent of a NICU infant and having high levels of COVID-19-related worries as significant risk factors for maternal mental health symptoms. These data also indicate that health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic compound the risks for NICU parent mental health, specifically for anxiety symptoms (p<.05) and feelings of loneliness (p<.05) - Table 2. The interaction between having an infant in the NICU and COVID-19-related health worries did not achieve statistical significance level for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression (p<0.1). All models controlled for pre-existing mental health diagnoses, stressful life events in the past year, daily discrimination, and reported instrumental social support. The interaction between COVID-19-related health worries and mental health symptoms of mothers of NICU infants compared to mothers of healthy infants during the pandemic is presented in Figure 1.

Conclusion(s): The COVID-19 pandemic is a major environmental stressor that not only adds to, but rather, compounds the preexisting high levels of psychological distress experienced by families of NICU infants. Urgent action is needed to better support families of fragile infants during this unprecedented period.

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Authors/Institutions: Cindy H. Liu, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States; Leena Mittal, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States; Carmina Erdei, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States