PEDIATRICS Vol. 78 No. 5 November 1986, pp. 780-786
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Emotional and Health Impact of Home Monitoring on Mothers: A Controlled Prospective Study

Evelyn McElroy RN, PhD1, Alfred Steinschneider MD, PhD1, and Steven Weinstein MD1

1 From the University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, and the American Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Institute, Atlanta

The psychologic and health effects of home monitoring were evaluated in mothers, whose infants (epidemiologically not at high risk for sudden infant death syndrome) were placed on electronic surveillance because of results obtained from a laboratory sleep study conducted at 4 weeks of age. Mothers of these infants were studied prospectively at several periods following the infants' births: 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 1 year. The initial sample consisted of 56 mothers. Evaluation procedures included the Neonatal Perception Inventories, Anxiety Inventory (State and Trait), Depression Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory, and a Recent Life Changes Questionnaire. The results obtained from these women were compared with those of women who had delivered at about the same time but whose infants were not placed on a home monitoring program. A total of 57 women started in the control group. Very few statistically significant group differences were observed between the two subject groups: 2 weeks after initiating the home monitoring program, monitor mothers (when compared to nonmonitor mothers) perceived their infant's behavior differently (although not more bothersome) and had an increased degree of situational anxiety (although not to an abnormal degree). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups 12 weeks or 1 year after giving birth. These results suggest that a home monitoring program, which includes an aggressive and readily available support system, does not impose a marked health hazard to mothers.

Key Words: home monitoring • anxiety • depression • psychologic symptoms • physical health

Submitted on August 26, 1985
Accepted on May 20, 1986




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