Mental health and well‐being in parents of excessively crying infants: Prospective evaluation of a support package
Date
2018-04-17Author
Abstract
Background:
During the first 4 months of age, approximately 20% of infants cry a
lot without an apparent reason. Most research has targeted the crying, but the impact
of the crying on parents, and subsequent outcomes, need to receive equal attention.
This study reports the findings from a prospective evaluation of a package of materials
designed to support the well‐being and mental health of parents who judge their
infant to be crying excessively. The resulting “Surviving Crying” package comprised a
website, printed materials, and programme of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy‐based
support sessions delivered to parents by a qualified practitioner. It was designed to
be suitable for United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS) use.
Methods:
Parents were referred to the study by 12 NHS Health Visitor/Community
Public Health Nurse teams in one UK East Midlands NHS Trust. Fifty‐two of 57 parents
of excessively crying babies received the support package and completed the Edinburgh
Postnatal Depression Scale and Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 anxiety questionnaire,
as well as other measures, before receiving the support package and afterwards.
Results:
Significant reductions in depression and anxiety were found, with numbers
of parents meeting clinical criteria for depression or anxiety halving between baseline
and outcome. These improvements were not explained by reductions in infant crying.
Reductions also occurred in the number of parents reporting the crying to be a large
or severe problem (from 28 to 3 parents) or feeling very or extremely frustrated by
the crying (from 31 to 1 parent). Other findings included increases in parents'
confidence, knowledge of infant crying, and improvements in parents' sleep.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that the Surviving Crying package may be effective
in supporting the well‐being and mental health of parents of excessively crying babies.
Further, large‐scale controlled trials of the package in NHS settings are warranted.
Description
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
Citation : Powell, C., Bamber, D., Long, J., Garratt, R., Brown, J., and Rudge, S., Morris, T. Bhupendra, J.N., Plachcinski, R. Dyson, S., Boyle, E. St James-Roberts, I. (2018) Mental health and well-being in parents of excessively crying infants: Prospective evaluation of a support package. Child: Care, Health And Development, 44 (4), pp. 607-615
ISSN : 0305-1862
Research Group : Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre
Research Institute : Institute of Health, Health Policy and Social Care
Peer Reviewed : Yes