Identifying the Predictors of Attachment to Preterm Hospitalized Infants during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Separation of the mother from her preterm hospitalized infant and the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic can influence psychological dimensions such as the mothers' attachment to the preterm infants. Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study was conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic and before the nationwide vaccination in a 4-month period from December 2020 to March 2021 on 190 mothers whose preterm infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the selected hospitals in Isfahan, Iran. All mothers with the inclusion criteria had the chance of participating in the study. After obtaining their consent, they completed Brockington's Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire, Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS), the multidimensional scale of perceived social support (mspss), and a researcher-made form concerning the Maternal-Neonatal Demographic Characteristics. Results: The Covid-19 anxiety (12.21 +/- 10.31), perceived social support (66.55 +/- 12.81) and maternal attachment (43.81 +/- 6.82) were estimated to be at the levels of mild, high, and medium respectively. As shown by the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient, a significant relationship was observed between the Covid-19 anxiety and maternal attachment (P <0.001). No significant relationship was observed between the perceived social support and maternal attachment at the significance level of 0.05 (p <0.05). Moreover, based on the results of the final multiple regression model, the Covid-19 anxiety, income level of the mother and her job were significant predictors of maternal attachment (P <0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, increased anxiety of the Covid-19 could reduce the level of maternal-neonatal attachment. The factors of Covid-19 anxiety, income level and job of mothers were significant predictors of maternal attachment.