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Parent caregivers of children who require lifesaving technology (e.g., mechanical ventilation, feeding tubes) must maintain a high level of vigilance 24/7. A two-arm randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of a resourcefulness intervention on parents' mental/physical health and family functioning at four time points over six months. Participants (n = 93) cared for their technology-dependent children <18 years at home. The intervention arm received teaching on social (help-seeking), personal (self-help) resourcefulness skills; access to the intervention video and skill application video-vignettes; four weeks of skills reinforcement using daily logs; four weekly phone contacts; and booster sessions at two- and four-month postenrollment. The attention control arm received phone contact at identical time points plus the current standard of care. Statistically significant improvement was noted; fewer depressive cognitions and improved physical health for the intervention participants than attention control participants over time after controlling for covariates. The findings support the resourcefulness intervention efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) face stressors including turbulent emotions from their pregnancy/unexpected preterm delivery and their infant's unpredictable health status. The study purpose was to examine the psychological state of mothers prior to the discharge of their technology-dependent infants (eg, feeding tubes, supplemental oxygen) from the NICU to home. The study sample consisted of mothers ( N= 19) of infants dependent on medical technology being discharged from a large Midwest NICU. A descriptive, correlational design using convenience sampling was employed to recruit mothers to examine associations of infant and maternal factors, resourcefulness, and stress with psychological state (depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms). Forty-two percent of mothers were at high risk for clinical depression, with 37% in the clinical range for posttraumatic stress disorder. Increased maternal depressive symptoms were significantly associated with the increased frequency and perceived difficulty of their stress and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Increased posttraumatic stress symptoms were significantly associated solely with elevated depressive symptoms. This study identified factors associated with the mothers' increased psychological distress, providing beginning evidence for future interventions to employ prior to their technology-dependent infant's NICU discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]