Two years of support are requested to conduct a descriptive study to identify stressors affecting parents during their infants, hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), to evaluate the interrelationships among these stress stimuli, and to further establish the reliability and validity of a stressor scale designed to measure stress engendered by the NICU environment. Based on the work of Selye and Roy, the conceptual model for this study proposes that personal stimuli, situational factors, and environmental stressors may be sources of stress when a child is in an ICU and that these potential stress stimuli interactively affect the overall stress response. Parents of approximately 200 premature infants will be interviewed at three points in time during their infant's hospitalization. Data regarding selected personal stimuli will be collected via a personal-situational questionnaire, the Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Review of Life Experiences questionnaire. Data regarding situational factors will be collected utilizing selected chart data, a severity of illness index, and Mischel's Parental Perception of Uncertainty Scale. Environmental stress will be measured using the Parental Stressor Scale: NICU (PSS: NICU) developed by the investigator. Overall stress will be evaluated using the State Anxiety Inventory. The following research questions will be explored: 1) does the perceived stress of certain situational and environmental stressors and the overall stress impact over time; 2) what is the relationship between certain personal and situational stressors in predicting parental perception of stress arising from the NICU environment; 3) what is the relationship among personal, situational, and NICU environmental stress stimuli in predicting overall anxiety; and 4) does the perceived stress impact of the NICU differ for mothers and fathers. In addition, data from the study will be used to further establish the internal consistency, reliability, and content anc construct validity of the PSS: NICU.
